Youthful Nature
by Giant-Rubber-Duck
Summary: Alfred gets his hands on one of Arthur's magic books.  Short summary is short.  Contains magic, FACE family stuff, etc. Rated T for my own potty mouth, which is transferred to the characters often times.  Genre's are kinda up in the air.
1. Chapter 1

Starting a new story! woo hoo!

This one, like all my others, is rated T because I have a dirty mouth and tend to write characters with dirty mouths.

I've got this one pretty well planned out, and I'll write chapters whenever I'm bored in class, which is pretty often (you'd think my sophomore year of college would be more exciting...-.-)

All relationships will be of a brotherly nature, sorry nothing romantic here. I've got nothing against fics with a romantic element, but I'm really bad at writing romance.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia! No shit! If I did, Prussia and Denmark would appear in every episode and comic and whatever to reek havoc and all around be awesome!

Alright, here we go! I now present Youthful Nature:

* * *

Alfred F. Jones walked the streets of London, looking for all the world like an average American tourist. The Londoners going about their business would never know the blonde American had first been to the English capital in the late 17th century. He'd seen London hundreds of times before, yet for some reason, the city never failed to astound him. It was so different from any of his cities. He'd been in London for a week, yet this, the day his plane was scheduled to leave for Washington D.C., was his first chance to wander the city.

The World Meeting he'd been at had, as usual, been a complete wash-out. Everyone had spent the entire time arguing, rarely about the issues at hand. Even though he wasn't innocent of getting in his own fights, these meetings were really starting to get to the American. They always made him feel so useless. He was supposed to be the hero, wasn't he? Yet he couldn't even help his fellow nations fix simple problems like global warming. He'd spent the entire conference arguing with England, and not even about important things. His thoughts drifted back through the centuries to when he was just a young colony. He and England had been so close back then.

America looked up to see Big Ben and realized the time. In a few hours he needed to be at the airport getting on his flight back to the States. As the personification of a nation, he didn't need to worry much about security. At the major airports such as Heathrow, the nations had their own special entrance, and could go from a taxi to their plane in 20 minutes if they were running late. With his remaining time in the United Kingdom, America decided to visit Arthur. He wanted to apologize for the fight they'd had the previous day. Arthur didn't deserve what he'd said…

* * *

"Hey Iggy, you home?" Alfred called into the house. Really, England should find a less-obvious place to hide his spare key.

Alfred wandered into the obviously empty house, a little disappointed Arthur wasn't around. He wasn't sure when he'd be able to see him next. With a sigh, America wandered into the kitchen, hoping to find a snack before his flight. He quickly located a soda and, though it wasn't Coca-Cola, he gulped it down. As he lowered the empty can, he noticed the door.

The ancient wood, rich green in color, brought England's words from long ago to his mind.

_"Alfred, there is one rule in my house you must never ever break."_

_ It was the little colony's first time in England and they had just arrived at the nation's stately home. Alfred was, of course, hungry, so the two had gone into the kitchen to find a snack._

_ "What is it, England?"_

_ "You must promise me you will never go through that green door."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "It leads to the basement and there are lots of things down there that could hurt you."_

_ "Nothing can hurt me! If anything ever tries, I'll fight 'em off!"_

_ "'fight __them__ off, speak properly," England scolded, though a smile played across his lips, "There isn't anything down there that would interest you anyway. It's just dusty old things I could never bring myself to part with…"_

To this day, Alfred had never gone through that door. Yet there, right in front of him, the ancient door stood wide open. His curiosity getting the better of him, the American slowly descended down the dark staircase.

The basement was lit by dim candles, implying someone had been here recently. Yet around the room some of the candles had burnt out, whomever had been here had left at least a few hours ago.

Instead of finding stacks of dusty old boxes as expected, Alfred's eyes met shelves upon shelves of books and bottles. He drew a hand across a row of ancient, bound texts, their titles in strange languages he didn't know. It finally hit him that this room was where England practiced the magic he was so often teased about by France. He turned to the middle of the room where a single volume lay open on an engraved podium. He walked to the book and looked over the page it was resting at. To his surprise, the words were mostly in English. He began flipping through the worn pages, reading the names of strange spells and curses, until one particular spell caught his eye. "The Spell of the Hero." He looked over the first page for this spell.

_With this spell, one can become a 'hero', protecting those he cares about. WARNING: Cast with care._

A small voice in Alfred's head told him to try the spell right then and there. He quickly over-ruled it. After all, wasn't Arthur's magic a bunch on make-believe mumbo-jumbo? 'So what?' the voice said 'If it is make-believe, what harm would it do?'

Alfred grabbed the book, ran up the stairs and stuffed it into his bag. Maybe he would try it, just for fun.

* * *

So, let me know what you think so far! Reviews let me know people are actually enjoying this and inspire me to write faster ;)

~Duckie


	2. Chapter 2

Alfred slipped into his first class seat without a moment to spare. It was a good thing he was a nation, or he'd still be trying to get his ticket from the counter, with the ever looming task of trying to get through security still ahead.

"Honestly, Alfred, you couldn't cut it any closer, eh?"

America turned to see his brother in the seat next to his.

"Mattie! What are you doing here?"

His brother sighed, "I'm flying with you to Washington, then flying to Ottawa this evening, remember?"

Oops, he'd forgotten. Canada shook his head with a look that showed he expected no less of his twin.

* * *

The brothers spent the afternoon together at Alfred's house, remember times long since passed, laughing and joking about when they were kids. It was sort of nostalgic. But it wasn't long before Matthew needed to head to the airport to catch his flight to Canada. Alfred had taken his own bag to his room as Matthew repacked his carry-on that had somehow, during the few hours he was there, spread all over the American's house. As the American began to unpack his own bag, his hand pulled out the old, leather-bound book. America wondered what had possessed him to take the book from Arthur's house, it seemed rather silly now that he was out of that dark and mysterious basement. He opened the book anyway and turned right to the spell that had earlier caught his attention. To his own surprise, he started to read the instructions. They weren't that terribly complicated. 'What do I have to lose?' He thought to himself.

"Al, my taxi is here, I'm going to leave!"

"Hold on, Mattie, can you bring me a glass of water first?"

Canada sighed. His brother was always so distracted. Being the nice person he was, he went to get the glass. He wouldn't mind a sip of something himself anyway.

* * *

"Thanks bro, have a safe trip!"

"Later, Al!" Matthew left in the taxi for the airport.

All alone in his house, America started to work.

* * *

Chapter 3 will probably be up soon! Don't forget to add a story alert, favorite, or review!

~Duckie


	3. Chapter 3

_Step 1: You will need a glass with liquid in it. Water is preferred, though any drinkable liquid will suffice._

Step 1 complete, thanks to Mattie.

_Step 2: Drink a large sip from the glass. Do not drink the entire contents. If this spell is to be performed on more than one person, they may all drink from the same glass as long as there is some left over._

Alfred took a gulp from the glass. Step 2 done.

_Step 3: Wait 30 minutes to one hour before moving to step 4._

Alfred groaned. He was never a very patient person. He wandered into the living room and started watching TV. 31 minutes later, he was back in his room, reading:

_Step 4: Recite the incantation – _

_ Vox ut Polus_

_ Vox Intus_

_ Planto Mihi In A Vir_

_ Ut Servo Illud Carus Volo_

_ Caution: Be very careful while reciting._

'Uh-oh,' America thought to himself. He didn't know Latin…oh well

"Vox ut Pullus, uh, Vox Intus, Plant-o Mehi…um…A Vir, Ut Serv-o Ill-ud Carus Volo."

Yeah, close enough. On to step 5. America looked turned the page to discover…nothing. That was the end of that spell. But…nothing happened! He knew England's Hocus Pocus was a bunch of hooey! He felt a bit silly for actually trying it.

Alfred wandered into the kitchen. It was getting late and he hadn't eaten dinner yet. He quickly set to making hamburgers. He grilled up his hamburger patties, topped his buns with the traditional goodies, and set down to eat. He was about to dig-in when he realized he forgot to get a Coke out to drink! He jumped up and ran over to the fridge. Suddenly he felt a bit dizzy.

"I must have gotten up too quick…" Alfred said. Then everything went black.

* * *

_Two hours later…_

Alfred woke up, his whole body aching. He'd obviously been out for a while, the sun had already set and his hamburgers were cold. It didn't really matter though, he wasn't feeling hungry at all anymore. He stored the burgers in the fridge to eat later and headed toward his bedroom. He felt so tired. He stopped at the small mirror in the hallway to see if he look as much of a mess as he felt.

Funny, he could have sworn he'd hung that mirror so it would perfectly reflect his face…it was now hung an inch or two too high, so Alfred had to stand on tip toe to see his whole face. His hair was a bit of a mess, but otherwise he looked normal. The mirror must have been Tony's doing, probably some prank before he left for Roswell earlier in the week.

Alfred stripped off his clothes until he was just in boxers, not even bothering to find a pair of pajama's. He laid down in bed, body still aching, and almost instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Alright, chapter 3 is up! Starting to get a hint of what is going to happen to Alfred. There is also a hint of something else in the Steps for the spell, I wonder if anyone caught it.

I don't know any Latin, I got what is there is thanks to a random online translator I found. The original Latin is suppose to say something along the lines of

_Power Of The Heavens_

_Power Within_

_Make Me Into A Hero_

_To Protect Those I Care For_

I hope it was obvious that Alfred totally messed it up. If no one understands what is happening to Alfred, there is a hint in the Latin-ish that he recites. One of the words he messes up is a real Latin word, one of the meanings of which hints at Alfred's fate.

This will probably be the only spell Alfred performs, any more magic will be done by Arthur in attempts to fix the mess Alfred creates.

I'm really enjoying writing this, so I hope to update again soon!

~Duckie


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur Kirkland wasn't angry. No, angry was too mild a word to describe him at that moment. He was seriously pissed. He was in the middle of studying some of the magic texts when he got a phone call from none other than Francis Bonnefoy, begging the English nation to come pick him up at the airport because his flight had been canceled. Then he demanded they stop at a fancy restaurant to eat lunch, before declaring he was spending the night with Arthur because all the nice hotels were booked. After all that, Arthur was angry.

It was the next day it was kicked up a notch. Francis had still not left by late morning, so Arthur decided to ignore him and got back to his studies. Only to discover his book was gone and in its place was an empty soda can. Then, Arthur was pissed.

He stormed upstairs to find his phone and angrily dialed the America's number. He didn't even bother to let the git say hello before he started yelling.

"ALFRED F. JONES, YOU BLOODY IDIOT! You went in my basement! Almost 350 years you follow that rule and now, not only do you break it, but you steal my book!"

On the other end of the line, Arthur heard an incredibly small, un-America like squeak.

"Alfred, this is you, right…?" Arthur said, a little worried he had just chewed out some very frightened nobody.

"y-y-yes…" The voice was so small, so quiet, almost like…

"Alfred…you didn't USE anything from the book, DID YOU?"

"y-y-y-y-yes…" The tiny voice answered.

Arthur paled. He couldn't be right, please don't let him be right.

"Stay put and don't answer the phone unless it's me, Alfred, we're coming to get you." Arthur hung up without waiting for a response.

"Angleterre, is everything alright? I heard yelling." France stepped into the kitchen.

"No, Francis, everything is not alright. Grab what you need, we'll be back shortly."

"Mon Ami, where are we going?"

"America. Like hell I'm leaving you here alone, and I might need your help anyway. I just hope I'm not right."

* * *

Alfred was not as oblivious as everyone thought he was. For example, this morning, he knew something was wrong immediately after he woke up. First, he was naked. Second, his bed appeared to have grown tremendously overnight. Yeah, something was definitely wrong.

He made his way over to the side of the bed and carefully worked his way off. He was doing fine until he really looked at his own hands. They looked strange. Far too small. Far too…young. He promptly fell off the bed onto his butt. Slowly, Alfred rose and worked his way over to the full-length mirror across the room. He stared at his reflection.

Staring back at him was an Alfred who looked to be about 5 years old. He gapped open-mouthed at the young boy staring back at him. His hand rose to touch the glass of the mirror, as though to prove it was real. The cool feel of the glass sent shivers down his spine as reality hit him.

Across the room, his cellphone started ringing. Luckily, it vibrated as it rang and worked its way off the table. Alfred looked at the caller ID to see Arthur's number staring back at him. He slowly opened the phone.

"ALFRED F. JONES, YOU BLOODY IDIOT! You went in my basement! Almost 250 years you follow that rule and now, not only do you break it, but you steal my book!"

The now-small American started to tremble a bit, and not just because he wasn't wearing any clothes. He let out a small squeak.

"Alfred, this is you, right…?"

He was afraid to answer, afraid of his own voice. Slowly he stuttered out a "y-y-yes…" before clamping his mouth shut. No, the quiet little whisper, it couldn't be his voice…but maybe Arthur didn't notice…

"Alfred…you didn't USE anything from the book, DID YOU?"

Nope, he noticed…might as well get it over with.

"y-y-y-y-yes…" He cursed the sound of his own voice. It was so small, so unsteady.

To his amazement, Arthur didn't start yelling again.

"Stay put and don't answer the phone unless it's me, Alfred, we're coming to get you." He sounded so focused, so serious. The line went dead, signifying the Englishman had hung-up. Alfred couldn't take it anymore. This was just too much. He started to cry.

* * *

Poor Mini-Alfred is crying

Chapter 5 shouldn't take me too much longer either. I might have chapter 6 up soon too…then updates will probably slow down. Even though my classes are pretty boring, there is still homework…

Please guys, give me some reviews! They can be one word, one sentence, or one paragraph! I just want to know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

~Duckie


	5. Chapter 5

Alfred felt much better after his cry. Sure, nothing had changed, but he just felt more focused afterwards. He formed a quick plan in his mind. It was going to take Arthur about 8 hours to get to Washington. That meant he was going to be alone and tiny for 8 hours. First, Alfred found a t-shirt in the bottom drawer of his dresser and put it on. At least now he wasn't entirely naked. Next, he gathered some boxes and various other items from around the room and made a set of stairs so he could get back up on his bed. He pulled the book, which was now very big to him, up on to the bed so it would be easy to find later.

The next problem was food. He couldn't possibly go 8 hours with nothing to eat, especially after skipping dinner the previous night. He realized, however, he probably wouldn't need as much food as he would have normally. The problem still stood that he couldn't reach any of the food in his kitchen if he could get there. He cursed this tiny body as he thought. He didn't trust himself on the stairs. His steps up to his bed were one thing, but he'd already tripped seven times because of his tiny legs. Falling down the stairs was not top on his list of "Things To Do While Stuck As A Munchkin." He looked around and saw his carry-on bag from the previous day's flight. Perfect! He'd packed loads of snacks just in case he got hungry and his flight was delayed. He opened the luggage and pulled out all the snacks, putting them on another part of the bed.

He settled in under the covers and started to watch TV, waiting for Arthur to arrive.

* * *

"Angleterre, we just finished an 8 hour flight, and I still do not know why we suddenly flew to America. What is going on?"

"Francis, if I told you right now, you wouldn't believe me anyway. I'm not even positive myself, though I'm sure enough to know we should hurry to America's house." He turned on his phone as they exited the terminal. Eight new text messages, all from Canada. Whatever the Canadian wanted, it could wait. He saved the messages for later.

The ride to America's house went smoothly, though the Frenchman was still grumbling about being left out. England ignored him. They pulled up to the house, grabbed their things, and walked up to the front door. Francis was about to knock when Arthur stopped him.

"He won't answer, help me find the spare key." It didn't take long, there was a rather obvious fake rock it was hidden in. 'Really,' Arthur thought to himself, 'Alfred needs to find a better place to hide his spare key.' He unlocked the door and walked inside.

England set his bag down in the living room. He told Francis to stay in the living room and, despite rather vocal protests, the Frenchman listened. He then quickly made his way upstairs to America's bedroom.

* * *

England peered into the room and didn't see anything at first. Then he noticed the tiny lump under the covers in between _his_ book of magic and some used snack wrappers. That wasn't a good sign.

"Alfred?"

The lump wiggled until a tiny blonde head popped out from under the covers. The Englishman's breath caught in his throat as 5 year old eyes starred at him with an apologetic look.

"Alfred…what did you do?"

Those tiny eyes started to well up with tears.

"I-I don't know! I didn't mean to, really!"

"I know Alfred, just tell me what happened." Arthur sat down on the bed next to the small boy.

"Well, you know I got your book already. I was looking through it and there was a spell I thought would be cool! I didn't really believe anything would happen, so I didn't think anything would go wrong if I just tried it…"

"Show me which spell you tried, and maybe I can figure out how to fix this."

Alfred grabbed the book and, with some difficulty, opened it to the right page. "The Spell of the Hero" stared back at them.

Arthur closed his eyes and sighed. "Did you follow the directions for the spell?"

"Every bit of them, only…I think I mispronounced the Latin…it was…um…Vox ut Pullus…um…"

Arthur cut him off. "That would do it, lad. Polus, not Pullus. Polus means heavens in this context. Pullus can mean a young animal, like a chick. You're lucky you don't have a beak."

Alfred looked horrified at the thought, the expression only magnified by his young face.

"So, can you fix it? I really am sorry Arthur, I didn't mean to do anything wrong…"

He sighed again. "I know, lad, I know. I'm sorry I yelled at you this morning. But the bad news is I can't fix this right now. The kind of magic you managed to do is made to wear off, not be broken. There might be a way, but we'll need to go back to my house. And I can't make any guarantees. If I can't break the spell, you'll be stuck like this for about a month."

Alfred's eyes started to fill with tears again. "Damn it!" He wiped the tears from his cheeks, "I'm 19 in human years, yet this is the fourth time today I've cried!"

"It's probably not your fault. Your mind may still be 19, but your body is only about 5. Magic is a powerful thing. This probably isn't the only side affect you'll see. Now, why don't we go downstairs, find you some proper clothes, and head to London."

Alfred suddenly blushed heavily when Arthur moved toward the door. "Arthur…I need your help…"

"What is it lad?"

"I…I can't walk down the stairs…I'll fall 'cause I'm not used to this body…can you…can you carry me?" Alfred's face got even redder when the last words crossed his lips.

Arthur smiled at the young-looking nation. "It's alright, Alfred." He picked up the American and they left the room together.

* * *

If you actually know Latin, which is pretty awesome I must say, try to ignore my terrible abuse of the language!

Next chapter you'll find out more about the results of Alfred's spell. Though it's not yet time for my favorite strange effect.

Now go review!

~Duckie


	6. Chapter 6

I might be able to squeeze one more chapter out tonight, after that there won't be another until at least late Tuesday afternoon American Central Time.

* * *

Arthur set Alfred down once they got to the bottom of the stairs. "You need to get used to walking in that body anyway. Stay here for a moment until I call you, alright?" Alfred nodded.

"Francis, are you still in here," Arthur called as he walked into the living room.

"Oui, Angleterre. I just got a rather interesting text message from Mathieu."

Arthur thought back to his own phone. He'd never looked at Matthew's messages. Oops.

"Interesting how?"

"Well first, he rarely sends me messages, choosing rather to call so we can speak in French easier. Second, he is requesting I come to Canada immediately, as he requires assistance."

Arthur pulled out his own phone. He looked through the messages from Canada. They began calmly enough, simply a request for assistance. They got more and more frantic however. What on earth could have Matthew so worried? Arthur paled for the 2nd time that day. It couldn't be, it really couldn't!

"Excuse me for a moment." Francis looked curiously as the Englishman left the room.

He rushed back to Alfred's side. "Al, when was the last time you saw your brother?" He asked hurriedly.

"Yesterday…he flew back with me and we hung out before his flight for Canada left late that evening."

"Where would you put the time he left compared to when you tried magic?"

"Right before, he got me the glass of water before he left…Arthur, why?"

All of the color was now drained from Arthur's face. If Matthew had taken even a sip of the contents of that glass…

"Francis! Send Canada a message that we are on our way. Don't call him. Grab your things, we need to hurry. We're stopping by a clothing store on the way to the airport."

"Mon Ami, what is goin-" Francis froze at the sight of Alfred in the Englishman's arms.

"We'll explain on the way, we need to leave NOW."

* * *

_The previous night…_

Matthew Williams rarely fell asleep on airplanes. That's why he was so surprised after waking up from a two hour nap during his flight from Washington to Ottawa. He didn't remember falling asleep, though he did remember getting a terrible head ache after it had been announced they would have to stay on the runway for an hour and a half due to thunderstorms. He must have fallen asleep shortly after that.

His whole body ached. That's what he got for trying to sleep on an airplane. Even in first class seats, trying to sleep sitting up was not comfortable. Since he never planned to fall asleep, he never leaned his chair back.

On top of his aching body, he couldn't remember ever feeling this tired. It was a good thing he wasn't driving, it wouldn't do for a nation to get in an accident after falling asleep at the wheel. It was strange, he'd never really gotten jet-lagged before…

Matthew arrived at his house and greeted Kumajirou, ignoring the "who?" he got in return. He dropped his things in the entrance hall to be taken care of later and trudged his way to his room. He tripped over his pants twice on the way up the stairs. Funny, he could have sworn they fit better earlier in the day…

Matthew dropped on to his bed, kicked off his shoes, and fell asleep.

* * *

Canada was guessing how he felt the previous night had something to do with his current situation. Namely, wearing nothing but a hockey jersey that was far too big for him and riding on Kumajirou's back just to get around his own house. He'd hardly spoken a word all day, relying instead on pointing to lead his bear around. He was scared by his own reflection, scared by his own voice. How could he be 5? These things didn't just happen! Did they?

Alfred wasn't answering his phone. Darn it, for once, the Canadian really needed a hero and the idiot wasn't around to help!

He'd texted Arthur too many times to count already. He refused to call. What if his former father figure didn't believe it was him? But England wasn't answering.

His fingers hovered over his next best option for help. France. He didn't really want to do it, he knew what it was like when France looked at pictures of him when he was little. What would he do now that he had the real thing? But Matthew couldn't stay alone much longer. He was running low on food either he or Kumajirou could get to.

The bear was being surprisingly helpful. Not a single "who?" had left his lips since the previous night, and anytime Canada needed help, he was there and willing.

Matthew finally pressed send on the message to Francis.

The reply came a few moments later.

"Stay where you are, mon petit ange! We are coming to help you, we're in Washington right now!"

What? Why were they in Washington? And who is we? His brother was never around France alone…so who was with them? How many people were going to find out about Canada's little…predicament?

* * *

Matthew took a sip from the glass before giving it to Alfred if that wasn't clear. They're brothers, they can do stuff like that…normally anyway.

Poor Mini-Matthew is so confused. *hugs for Mini-Matt!*

I discovered after I had posted this and had the whole "2-hours of unconsciousness" that a flight from Washington to Ottawa only takes about 55 minutes. Whoops. No nap-time after take off for Mattie. I edited it so it still makes sense.

Don't forget to give me your thoughts!

~Duckie


	7. Chapter 7

Alfred may have looked like the innocent little kid he once was, but since he didn't lose any of his memories, Arthur decided he was as obnoxious as ever. The only thing that saved Arthur from dealing with Alfred's rant the entire trip was how fast his body tired out. The "youthified" American, as he referred to himself, was currently fast asleep, his head in Arthur's lap. Honestly, besides the modern clothes they had bought for him, and his twin while they were at it, it was hard to tell the difference between this Alfred and the Alfred from 200 years ago. When he was asleep, at least.

Arthur actually felt a bit sorry for Francis. He'd meant to explain it to the Frenchman slowly, that's why he'd told Alfred to stay put until he was called. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. How had Alfred referred to Francis? Ah yes, 'his brain melted.' He had to give France credit, he was a little more stable now, even though he'd discovered only two hours ago a person he'd watch grow up from a tiny toddler to a young man was now once again 5. Meanwhile, the same thing might have happened to the boy he actually raised.

The car pulled up to Matthew's house and Arthur roused the American. They paid the driver and walked up to the front door. Francis, on Arthur's command, sent a message to Matthew.

France: _We've arrived, please let us inside._

Canada:_ There is a spare key attached to the underside of the mailbox._

Arthur and Alfred sighed when Francis retrieved the key. They'd never have thought of that…

The trio entered the house that seemed a little too quiet.

Canada: _Sorry, but who all is with you? I'm in a bit of an interesting predicament and I'd rather not everyone found out…_

France: _It is myself, Angleterre, and your brother._

Canada: _…alright, I didn't feel…right last night. I went to bed hoping I'd feel better in the morning. Unfortunately, I'm not quite myself this morning._

France: _Mon petit ange, why don't you come out where we can see you?_

A high-pitched scream was heard from down the hall. Francis whipped his eyes to England, who, he suddenly realized, was no longer holding America.

"I'd say Alfred found his brother." Arthur stated, and almost playful smirk crossing his lips.

* * *

France: _Mon petit ange, why don't you come out where we can see you?_

Matthew sighed. He _really_ didn't want to do this. Honestly, what would they think? Arthur might understand, he deals with weird stuff all the time. But Francis would probably flip. And his brother? He had to be a fifth his normal height, how would he deal with that?

Suddenly, a force hit him from behind. He found himself pinned to the ground on his back, the thing that hit him on his chest, holding his arms down. Whatever it was, it wasn't much bigger than he was.

"Hi Mattie!" That was the last voice Matthew expected to hear. A carbon copy of his own, only slightly louder. Slowly, he opened his eyes to the face staring down at him.

The Canadian started screaming.

* * *

France and England stood waiting as Alfred dragged his brother into the front room. Arthur sighed. Why did he have to be right today? He reached into the bag at his feet.

"Here Matthew, we're got clothes for you. Put them on and we can all have a big chat about what's happened."

Matthew eyed the bundle suspiciously before turning his frustrated gaze to the Englishman.

"I know what you're thinking, but I didn't do it."

He took the clothes and looked them over. They were simple, but looked comfortable. Undergarments, a t-shirt, jeans, sweatshirt, and small pair of tennis shoes, all in the right size. Similar to what his brother was wearing, only of a different color scheme. This was one of the moments he was really glad they were twins.

He entered the living room to find the rest of the group already seated. He used Kumajirou's help to get up on the sofa next to his brother.

"Alright, now would someone care to tell me why I, and Alfred, look like we're 5?" Canada was now rather frustrated.

Alfred turned bright red. His brother watched as he started to fidget. That's when it hit him.

"YOU DID THIS! I-I don't know how, but it was YOU!" Francis and Arthur, who had never heard Canada speak that loudly as an adult, much less a child, were shocked. This only got worse when the normally reserved Canadian tackled his brother.

Arthur acted almost immediately, pulling the two shrunken nations apart. He set them back on the couch after they stopped struggling against him.

"Honestly, we are going to sit here and explain what happened calmly and _without violence_. Is that clear?"

The twins, neither looking at the other, nodded in unison.

"Now, the first thing I need to know. Matthew, you brought Alfred a glass of water yesterday, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Did you drink any of that water before you gave it to your brother?"

"Yes, I took a sip of it. What does that have to do with anything?"

Arthur sighed. He really needed to stop being right today.

"Alfred _borrowed_ one of my spell books yesterday. He attempted a spell, but mispronounced the Latin he needed to know." Matthew was glad to see his brother had the dignity to look sorry for what he'd done. "The spell was one for changing one's self. This is done by drinking from the glass, then charming what is left in the glass once the liquid has spread through the body of whomever you are trying to affect. The liquids are still intertwined in the magical sense, leading for the change to occur in whoever has consumed the drink."

Matthew and Alfred nodded, both sort of understanding how it worked.

"Now, the thing about this kind of spell, as I have already told Alfred, is that they rarely come with a counter spell. One is simply supposed to wait for the spell to wear off."

"How long?"

"A month."

"We're going to be stuck like this for a month?"

"Well, not exactly. You'll probably look like 5 year olds for about 3 weeks. After that, the spell will start to weaken, meaning you'll start aging at an accelerated rate until you are back to your normal selves."

"I'm sorry Mattie, I really am! I didn't mean to…"

Canada sighed. It was really hard to stay mad at his brother when he had that look on his face. "I know, Al. I forgive you. But what are we going to do until then? Kumajirou has been helping me get around, but he can only do so much…"

"The plan is, the two of you are going to come with me to London. That way I can help you when you need it and also keep the two of you secret. We'll let your bosses know what happened, but other than that no one can know you two have changed. There are too many people who would try to take advantage of the situation."

The two young nations agreed.

"I'm staying with you." Arthur turned to Francis.

"Why the bloody hell are you doing that?"

"The boys can't cook for themselves and I will not allow them to live off the poison you call food."

England gritted his teeth. "Fine."

Actually, it would be handy having Francis around. He needed to spend time pouring over his books, seeing if he can't find some hidden counter spell to turn the North American twins back to their normal selves. If not, he at least needed to find a way to make it _appear_ they were 19, even if their bodies were really still stuck as 5 year olds. After all, there was another World Summit in London in only 2 weeks.

* * *

Wow, that was a long chapter for me…updates will slow down now.

I hope that better explained why both Mattie and Al were affected.

Also, "Youthified" is a word. Alfred said so.

Hope to see you all soon! Review for me and it might be sooner! ;D

~Duckie


	8. Chapter 8

It was surprisingly easy to get on a plane to England considering neither of the twins had valid passports. Luckily, a word from England and a quick phone call got them through. Being nations really had its perks sometimes.

They settled into their seats on the plane and Alfred and Matthew, their 5 year old bodies once again tired out, fell asleep. They woke up again about 6 hours later to find Arthur eyeing Kumajirou, who Matthew had insisted come with, with a strange look on his face.

"Arthur, if you're hungry, I'm sure you can find something better to eat than Mattie's polar bear." Alfred received a whack over the head from his twin.

"What's the matter Arthur?"

"I'm just surprised that your bear hasn't changed at all."

"Should something have happened?" Matthew asked, looking at the bear he could just yesterday carry in his arms. Now, they were about the same size.

"Maybe." Arthur sighed. "When a nation takes an animal companion, they become linked, even if they don't realize it. The animal will grow with the nation and die with the nation. That's why they can live far beyond their normal lifespan. I'm just a bit surprised that the magic didn't affect both of you."

Kumajirou climbed up into Matthew's seat and cuddle in next to the young nation. "I'm really glad he didn't change…I don't know what I would have done without him this morning."

* * *

_ Matthew awoke and immediately knew something was very, very wrong. He didn't know what yet, because at the moment he was too busy panicking, trapped inside his own sweatshirt._

_ "Kumajirou!" Matthew froze. Was that his voice? Tears filled his eyes. Why was he crying? He'd been through far worse than being trapped in an oversize sweatshirt. He suddenly felt the sweatshirt being tugged this way and that until he was free. Kumajirou stared at him with a confused look on his face, though it was far different than the normal look he got from the bear. Matthew gasped when he realized the bear wasn't that much smaller than him now. He jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror, tripping partially because of the soreness in his legs and partially from the strange feeling of his body. To the Canadian's horror, the Matthew staring back at him looked to be only 7. This…this wasn't possible!_

_ He figured the soreness he still felt from the previous night didn't come from falling asleep on the airplane. He turned to the clock, 5:00am staring back at him. He went to grab his phone to call somebody, anybody, for help, when the first jolt hit his fingertips. The jolt ran through his arm and raced around his body. Suddenly all he could feel was the pain._

_ It felt as though someone were squeezing every cell in his body. Matthew watched his reflection in terror as his body lost a few more inches before his eyes._

_ The constricting feeling stopped and Matthew fell back, no longer able to stand. The soreness returned, every part of his body aching. Kumajirou crawled up next to Canada, who wrapped his fingers into his fur. Though almost appearing calm, sitting on the floor, Matthew was panicking. Would he keep shrinking until he disappeared all together?_

_ 10 minutes later, the constricting feeling returned. Matthew bit his lip as he felt his bones shift and shrink. As his fingers lost another year, he struggled to keep his grip on Kumajirou. The bear was the only thing proving to him this was real, that he wasn't trapped in a horrible nightmare he couldn't wake-up from. Matthew couldn't explain it, but for some reason he needed to know this was really happening._

_ The squeezing stopped, but this time the soreness did not return. Matthew slowly stood up, almost losing his balance due to the strange feeling of his own legs. Though it terrified him, Canada turned to the mirror. This time, 5 year old eyes stared back at him._

_ "I…I think it's done." Canada whispered. His voice sounded even more foreign to him than before. The soreness was completely gone from his now tiny body, and something just told him he wasn't going to shrink any more. He looked around the room for something to wear. A hockey jersey lay on the floor not far from him and he pulled it on. Matthew grabbed his phone. Dead. He put a tiny hand to his forehead. The charger was in his bag…downstairs. He started to walk toward the door, only to trip again. He sighed from the floor._

_ Kumajirou walked in front of him and laid down._

_ "On."_

_ The shrunken nation gripped the bear, now the same size as he was, and pulled himself over his back like a horse. The bear nodded and walked out the door. He got to the top of the stairs and paused._

_ "Hold on."_

_ Matthew wrapped his arms around Kumajirou's neck and the bear turned around. He carefully descended the stairs backwards until they were safely to the bottom. He took the tiny Canadian over to the bag he'd thrown to the side the night before. It didn't take long for Matthew to find the charger and plug in his phone. It would take a bit for it to get enough charge to make a call. His tiny stomach grumbled with hunger. They should probably find some food._

* * *

"It hurt that much? How come I didn't wake up for that…?"

"I slept through most of it…maybe it only hurt if you were awake."

Alfred looked at Matthew with worried eyes. "But you were in so much pain…and it's all my fault." He looked away from his twin, guilt covering his face.

"Al, I already told you, I forgive you. You didn't mean to, that much is obvious. What's more, you had no idea it'd affect me too. So stop feeling sorry for yourself! Aren't you supposed to be a hero?" His brother's face brightened immediately at the "H" word. Arthur put his head in his hands. Oh, the rest of this trip was going to be _fun_, wasn't it...

"Wait," Matthew said, ignoring his brother's newest hero speech, "where's Francis?"

"I believe the flight attendant ejected him from first class. He's somewhere near the back of the plane now."

"He was hitting on her, wasn't he?" It was good to know, whatever strange happenings may occur, some things never change.

* * *

The twins were very happy to get to Arthur's house, especially after discovering more unfortunate side-effects of their change during their walk from the airport.

"_Alfred, it's a dog. An English Bull Dog to be precise. I know you aren't scared of dogs. Please stop clinging to my leg."_

_ "It's really big. And I'm trying…but I can't stop." Alfred grumbled, not letting go of the Englishman's trousers. Said Englishman started laughing._

_ "Oh, this is rich. Your body is scared, even though your mind knows better, and there's nothing you can do about it. I hope you're having fun being 5, lad!"_

Arthur had gotten less sympathetic since they left Canada. He was enjoying Alfred's suffering a little too much. He was even laughing at Matthew, who ended up in Francis's arms after an unfortunate incident with a bicycle. This event also led to the discovery that when Matthew's 5 year old body overpowered his 19 year old mind, he couldn't understand English anymore. When Matthew was actually 5, he didn't know much English, and apparently that was transferring over. When his younger body was scared, his older mind would hear English, know it was English, but simply couldn't put the words together. It was a very good thing Francis had demanded to come along, since, to his knowledge, neither Arthur nor Alfred knew much French.

Now safe in Arthur's house, the boys were sitting on his sofa, chatting about whatever came to mind. Arthur had immediately ducked into the basement to start studying his books after he had some epiphany about something. Francis, meanwhile, had set to making lunch for the group.

"Hey Kumajirou." The bear had climbed up next to the Canadian, cuddling with his shrunken owner.

"How come you remember his name now? Before you'd always call him all sorts of things, but now you say Kumajirou every time."

Matthew thought about the question. "I guess I always remembered when I was little, and it's another side effect…" He tried to cuddle further in to the bear's fur, only to discover they were not in the best spot on the couch. He slid off the front, pulling the bear with him.

He could just barely hear Alfred's laughter through Kumajirou, since the bear had landed on his face, blocking out sight and sound.

"Oh shut up!" His reply was muffled and only made the American laugh harder.

Suddenly, the laughter stopped. "Alfred?" Matthew finally pushed Kumajirou off and looked at his suddenly silent brother. Alfred was staring blankly in front of him, his pupils strangely constricted. "Alfred!" There was no response from his brother. "FRANCIS, ARTHUR! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ALFRED!"

* * *

That's right, I ended on a cliff hanger. *insert evil laughter here*

Chapter, what is it, 9 might be up later today…or maybe not. I have an essay due for my International Relations class. I really need to write it…but this is just SOOOO much more fun to right. And it's kinda international relations, right?

Don't forget to throw me a review!

~Duckie


	9. Chapter 9

There is an author's note at the end of this chapter I recommend you read _after_ you are finished. It will explain some things (I hope).

* * *

"FRANCIS, ARTHUR! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ALFRED!"

The two older nations ran into the room to see Matthew shaking his brother, trying to get a response. The elder twin blinked and looked at his younger brother.

"You have the same face as me…"

England stepped forward. "Alfred…"

"England!" The young face lit up. "Who's this guy? He looks like me! Are we at your house, when did we get here? What's the scary French guy doing here? I thought you didn't like him!"

"America, what year is it?"

"Um…1679"

"Bloody hell…"

* * *

_A few moments earlier…_

When Matthew landed on the floor with his polar bear on his face, Alfred lost it. Matthew just made it worse by trying to talk. It was just so ridiculous, he couldn't help but laugh.

The open windows let in the sounds of London. While Alfred was laughing, he heard the tones of the clock tower signaling it was almost 1 o'clock. Alfred's laughter was cut short as he heard the chime of Big Ben. A force hit him. Hard.

Alfred was thrown backwards. It felt like a wall hit him! But he didn't come into impact with the back of the couch behind him, nor the floor or another wall. It felt like he'd just stopped in mid-air. He slowly opened his eyes.

The world around him was entirely black. It was strange, he couldn't see light coming from anywhere, yet he could see himself just fine. Speaking of which, he _was_ himself. Bomber jacket and all, the 19 year old Alfred was back! Kinda…

Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of the floating American. He was looking at the room he'd just left. It was like he was watching a movie through his own eyes. Mattie was staring at him worriedly.

"_You have the same face as me…_" That was his voice! Well, his young voice anyway.

"_Alfred…_" The view turned until he saw Arthur.

"_England!_" His voice again, why did he sound so excited? "_Who's this guy? He looks like me! Are we at your house, when did we get here? What's the scary French guy doing here? I thought you didn't like him!_" What was he talking about? That's Matthew! And Francis isn't scary, just perverted!

"_America, what year is it?_" "2010!" The inner America yelled.

"_Um…1679_" …what?

"_Bloody hell…_" Bloody hell was right…

* * *

"So now he really believes he is 5, Angleterre?"

"I'd say so yes, I was actually afraid of this…"

"Is the same thing going to happen to me? I would really rather not lose my memories!"

Arthur sighed, "I had actually just found something about this effect when it happened. I'll see if I can't explain it. Right now, consider Alfred as though he has multiple personalities. One is his normal self, the other is him when he was 5. The Alfred currently playing with Kumajirou in the sitting room is the 5 year old Alfred."

"So the older Alfred is still in there somewhere?"

"Yes, I believe so. Something triggered the switch, however, and we need to figure out what. Because it was the same spell that changed the both of you, I'm sure you have the same triggers."

"But we were in the room together! Why did he change when I didn't?"

"Magical triggers are usually sounds. Alfred must have heard something you didn't. Whatever made the sound has to be something connected to magic. To get Alfred back, we just need to figure out what it is."

Francis was delegated to 'distracting Alfred' while Arthur and Matthew looked for anything in the room that could have made a sound. After searching for almost an hour, they gave up.

"I don't get it, lad. There is nothing in this room that would work as a magical trigger! What did the git hear?"

Matthew looked at his older twin, currently riding on the Frenchman's shoulders, a look a pure joy on his face. Matthew suddenly realized something. "Arthur…"

"What is it, Matthew?"

"I have to go to the bathroom…" The Canadian blushed.

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "It's alright, lad, let's go."

Francis watched the two leave the room for the bathroom down the hall. He thought to himself how gloomy that room was. As a proper Frenchman, he believed every room should have windows that could be thrown open on a beautiful day like today. Silly English people and their concept of inner rooms.

Right now, however, he needed to focus on keeping the young American entertained. He ran about the room with Alfred on his shoulders, laughing and giggling. He ran past the window and heard Big Ben chime not far from England's house. 2 o'clock…Alfred had been like this for an hour. Although the young American was incredibly adorable, he wasn't sure how much longer they could deal with the 5 year old version.

France suddenly realized the boy on his shoulders had stopped laughing. He suddenly heard a voice in his ear.

"Francis…put me _the fuck_ down."

* * *

Arthur and Matthew reentered the sitting room to find the other two sitting calmly. Francis had managed to find a glass of wine somewhere, while Alfred was sitting, arms crossed, blushing madly.

"Mon ami, how magical would you say your Big Ben is?"

"Quite…why?"

"I think I found your trigger."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty fucking positive." Alfred huffed, still blushing furiously.

* * *

I hope everyone understood that. I'll try to explain:

When Alfred and Matthew shrank, their selves when they were the age their bodies currently are kinda…woke up. These younger personalities are acting as alternate personalities to their 19 year old selves. Because they are a better "fit" for the bodies, they can unconsciously influence Alfred and Matthew's actions, such as when Alfred was scared of the dog, or when they were crying earlier. Those personalities, however, are dormant when they aren't the dominate personality, so they can't see what's going on. Meanwhile, when Alfred was inside his head, he was still "awake," so he could see everything that was happening. And was extremely embarrassed about it. The older personalities can't influence the younger personalities because they are as good of a "fit" for the bodies. The personalities ONLY switch when they hear Big Ben (unless I'm forced to change that later for a plot device…but probably not). Remember that Big Ben is technically just the giant bell inside the clock tower, and doesn't include the chimes. Also, Big Ben is magic cause I said so.

I hope that all makes sense!

Review!

~Duckie


	10. Chapter 10

Last procrastination chapter of the night! Really, if I try to type another one, my roommate may attack me with a nerf gun…

One thing I forgot to mention last chapter: The bells have no affect on the twins when they're asleep. Or unconscious. They have to actually hear the bells. That is all, enjoy!

* * *

"I don't want to do this."

"Come on Matthew, it's not so bad! You just gotta sit there and watch yourself act like an idiot for an hour!" Wow…he didn't know Alfred could use sarcasm.

"Alfred, be quiet. I'm sorry Matthew, we need to have you do this."

Canada grumbled to himself. Less than a minute…

"Do not worry, Mon petit Mathieu, I will be here with you!"

"Oh joy…"

The Westminster Quarters started. Matthew watched as his brother cover his ears as tight as he could. As the chimes came to a close, Matthew wondered to himself why he couldn't have just flown straight home yesterday. He could be sitting at home watching a hockey game.

"I just realized something."

"What?" Alfred eyed his brother curiously.

"We can't drink for a month."

The look on his twin's face made him smile, even as the wall hit him. Alfred was right, that's painful. He looked around him. It was just like his brother described. Dark. Right on cue, the screen flickered into existence. Matthew leaned back in mid-air, happy to stretch long limbs and settled in for the show.

* * *

As the bell rang, Matthew's eyes lost focus. His pupils constricted until they were nothing more than tiny slits. His face then relaxed, before tightening in fear.

"Mathieu, êtes-tu bien?" (_Mathieu, are you alright?_)

"Papa? Où sommes-nous?" (_Papa? Where are we?_)

"Nous sommes en Angleterre, Mathieu." (_We are in England, Mathieu._)

"Angleterre?" The tiny Canadian looked around, obviously alarmed.

"Well, you two obviously share the trigger…"

"Do you know who I am?" Alfred leaned in close to his twin.

"Je suis désolé. Quoi?" (_I'm sorry. What?_)

"Alfred, you git, he doesn't know English!"

"Way to insult a 5 year old."

Arthur leaned in close, glaring at the tiny nation. Alfred tried to glare back, but unfortunately, the midget in his brain seemed to find this intimidating.

"Says the 5 year old who let out 5 straight minutes of curse words not an hour ago."

Alfred tried to respond with a witty retort, he really did. However, his munchkin self seemed to have other plans. Namely, crying.

The American's eyes filled with tears against his will. He felt his lip start to tremble. Stupid munchkin.

England wasn't sure if Alfred was bawling on purpose or not. He could just be trying to make Arthur let him win. Or he could have scared the younger Alfred shitless. Arthur sighed. It was probably the latter.

England picked up the wailing nation, rocking him like he did 200 years ago to calm the young American down. It was working, luckily.

"One word and I swear, when I'm back to normal, you will regret it." The American managed to hiss in between hiccups.

"Not a word, Alfred, not a word." Arthur replied through a smirk. "Now, if I remember correctly, a certain young colony of mine was always tired after he cried."

"I'm not tired!" Alfred yawned. Damn it.

"Come now, lad, you can't be in the room for this anyway, just in case." Arthur took the grumpy American upstairs and put him to bed in one of the guest rooms.

"Qui était-ce? " (_who was that?)_

"Ton frère, Alfred." (_Your brother, Alfred_)

"J'ai un frère?" (_I have a brother?_)

Arthur returned quickly. "Alfred is asleep, let's do this test and get Matthew to bed too, he looks quite tired enough." The Englishman grabbed the laptop that had been sitting at the ready across the room. He nodded to Francis that he was ready.

"Mathieu, écouter, s'il vous plait." (_Mathieu, listen please_)

"Oui, Papa."

Arthur played a sound clip of Big Ben chiming. Canada listened closely, then turned to France.

"Les cloches ont sonné belle, Papa!" (_The bells sounded lovely, Papa!_)

Arthur sighed. "Well, Francis, it seems like they need the real thing."

"It was worth a try, mon ami. Why don't you head back to your books? I'll keep Mathieu up until the bells ring again, then lay him down with his brother."

"What do you plan to do for a half hour?"

"I was thinking about trying to teach him some English."

* * *

"Oh goody, I get to learn English…from France." Matthew decided his brother was right. The inside of one's own head is a very boring place to be.

* * *

*sigh* 4 years of French and here I am using Google translator...

Please don't forget to review! Send any questions you may have, also! I'll try to answer them, as long as I wouldn't be giving away any spoilers.

~Duckie


	11. Chapter 11

During the next few days then nations fell into a routine in the mornings. Arthur would rise early from his bedroom, take a quick shower, and retreat to the basement to pour over his texts until breakfast. Francis would arise about an hour later from the first guest room. He would awaken Alfred and Matthew from their bed in the second guest room, take them downstairs and start cooking. Unfortunately, their morning routine did not always go as planned. On their third morning in England, their schedule went off course right away.

* * *

The twin woke suddenly that morning. It had been an oddly warm night in England and their window had been left open. This would have been fine had there not been a car accident in the early hours of the morning. It seemed no one was hurt, but the angry Cockney accents flowed into the room, stirring their young bodies. The brothers, still drowsy from their sudden awakening, didn't notice the Winchester Chimes in the background.

Two pairs of young eyes widened when the first ring chimed.

They'd both switched with their younger selves a few times over the past few days. One or the other would fail to cover his ears in time or would end up in the wrong place and the wrong time. Yet every other time only one of them had switched. Francis and Arthur had always been around to watch them until they were back to normal. Now they were both switching, and they were all alone.

* * *

Matthew didn't open his eyes right away. He didn't want to be back in that dark, empty space. He didn't want to watch himself wander around until the bell chimed again. He didn't want to feel helpless, trapped, and alone. He didn't expect to hear…

"Mattie?"

Purple eyes snapped open. He slowly turned to the left, towards the voice he hadn't expected to hear any time soon. Before he could take in the form next to him, strong arms pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're here! I thought I was gonna be all alone again!"

"Al…I…can't…breathe…"

The American froze. "…Does it matter?" though he did let go of his brother.

Matthew sighed. "I really don't know, Al. How are we in the same place anyway? I thought this was supposed to be some corner of our own mind, eh?"

"Maybe it's a twin thing!"

"How does that make any sense?"

"Hey, you asked. And we're currently in a big floaty black room while ourselves at age 5 control our bodies, also currently age 5. How does any of this make sense?"

"You decided to mess around with things you shouldn't have. There, sense made. We'll just ask Arthur later."

Two screens now flickered into existence in front of them, showing the room they had just left.

"This is weird~…it's like I'm looking at myself!"

Matthew shook his head. "You are looking at yourself…"

* * *

Arthur rose as usual that morning. Well, as usual as one can rise, knowing two 19 year olds were asleep down the hall still stuck in the bodies of 5 year olds. He'd been searching his books for 3 days and found nothing. They only had a week and a half before the World Conference. Honestly, he couldn't see why they'd split the conference up in the first place. Francis said something about cool down time. Why bother, they'll all just get worked up again! They should have just had one two-week conference, rather than two one-week conferences with a two week break in the middle! Half the nations had just stayed in his country anyway. They were taking the time to relax, they said. See the sites. Could Arthur spend his break relaxing? No, because Alfred had to go and pull the stupidest stunk he possibly could! Arthur grumbled as he got in the shower.

Why was he even helping the git? He was the one who turned himself into a bloody child, he should have to deal with the consequences himself!

_You couldn't have left him there, all alone in that house._

"I could have and should have! I never should have gone in the first place!"

Great, he was talking to himself…

_He only had the best intentions. Besides, he was your colony, you understand better than anyone the helplessness in his eyes._

"Good intentions or not, he stole from me and screwed up. And he's not my colony anymore, he hasn't been for 234 years."

_And for the first time in 234 years, he is truly grateful for your help…_

Arthur decided, as he finished his shower and pulled on clothes, the voice or reason in his head did not play fair.

Arthur pulled his shirt over his head and froze. Was that…giggling?

* * *

The two five year olds bonded instantly when they actually met each other for the first time. Even though Matthew only knew limited English, it didn't matter. They were brothers. And currently, as any 5 year old brothers would, they were wrestling. There was no malice in it, they were just 5 year old boys being 5 year old boys. On the outside, at least.

"Yeah! Go, lil' Al, go!"

"Al, the bell is going to ring again soon, and I swear, if you've still got me in a headlock, I'll…"

"You'll what? You'll be in a headlock, you won't be doing anything"

"I know how to get out of a headlock, Bro, I hang out with Prussia, eh? Go little Matt!"

In the real world, Alfred, to his counterpart's horror, had been flipped over his twin's back into the pile of pillows at the head of the bed.

'_That was so cool!'_

"No it wasn't! Get back in there!" To the older Alfred's delight, his younger self quickly reentered the battle.

The Winchester chimes sounded

"Finally." The twins said in unison. It was nice to feel like they had their own bodies back, but it was so much nicer to control their younger forms and be in the real world.

As the bells signaling the hour struck, the brothers watched each other slowly fade out of view.

* * *

Matthew opened his eyes, lad to see the real world come in to focus. He was not as glad, however, to find that Alfred did, in fact, still have him in a headlock.

England chose that moment to walk in the door.

"Mentally – 19 or 5?"

Matthew slipped out of his brother's grip and flipped him off the bed. "19, we just got back actually."

"Both of you?"

"Yeah, Iggy. It was weird though, we went to the same place!"

Confusion and irritation flashed across Arthur's face. "Don't call me that. And what do you mean, same place."

"When we weren't in control! We were both in the same big, dark, floaty room!"

"Interesting…alright, I'm going to wake up Francis, then head downstairs. If Francis isn't here in a few minutes, he may need medical attention." Arthur left to wake the perverted Frenchman.

"At least he didn't offer to cook for us instead…" Alfred hissed to his brother, who silently agreed.

"I heard that you git!"

"Oops…"

* * *

I think that anyone who knows Prussia needs to know at least 3 ways to get out of a headlock.

Arthur isn't really regretting helping Alfred, there's just still that part of him who has held a grudge all these years.

Next chapter will explain why Alfred and Matthew ended up in the same place. It's also the reason they have the same trigger. Things are pretty inter-connected in this story. Hopefully, anyway.

I noticed Francis kinda fades into the background a lot in this story. Sorry to any fans of the Frenchman, but that's probably going to happen a lot. The story is mainly about America and Canada, and there really isn't a whole lot I can do for character growth like I can with England. He'll still be around, but he's more just…there…

Don't forget to review for me please!

~Duckie


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks to all my great reviewers: Tea-PartyCrasher, nupinoop296, hopeindarkness, Midori Hara, Hikari-Ann, DA4TheFunOfIt, KuroFaara, and EnergyEmber!

* * *

Francis sipped his glass of wine while relaxing in the sun. England was having surprisingly pleasant weather lately, much to the delight of the country's southern neighbor. The pleasant weather also meant he could take the twins outside to play.

He was truly amazed, seeing the brothers as young children again. There was a small part of him that felt a little bad. All these years he'd been teasing England for believing in fairies and magic, and now here it was, right in front of him. He was also a little worried for the boys. They acted so much like their younger selves, sleeping, eating, and playing like real 5 year olds. It was only when they spoke he truly remembered that their 19 year old selves were still in those tiny bodies.

Secretly, Francis was also a bit excited to be watching over the shrunken North Americans. He'd missed out on a lot of raising the boys the first time, and now he got to see then tiny again! He always had to resist the urge to sqwee, especially when they were asleep. They were just so cute!

"EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Blue eyes snapped open at the scream. Alfred was running towards him at full speed, screaming in terror. France jumped up.

"What is it, Amérique?" Francis questioned the young nation, who was currently hiding behind his leg.

"Get it away from me!"

Francis looked around. "Amérique, what are you talking about?"

"That!" He pointed to empty space about 5 feet away and 3 feet off the ground. "It won't stop following me! And they've got Mattie!"

Said Canadian strolled out of the bushes on the far side of the yard, appearing calm and unharmed. Arthur chose that moment to dash out from the house.

"What the bloody hell is happening?"

"Amérique is panicking. About what, I am not sure."

"It's right _there_! They've got Mattie, he's surrounded by them!"

Arthur surveyed the yard until he saw the utterly nonplused Canadian before bursting out laughing.

Francis stared at the island nation, wondering if spending five days in a dark, dank basement hap addled his mind.

"They're _fairies_ Alfred, they aren't going to hurt you."

"Fairies? I thought those were imaginary!"

"…and you thought the same thing of magic a not a week ago. Honestly Alfred, you'd think by now you would have come to accept these things."

"Your fairies, Angleterre? But how can he see them? I see nothing."

"I'm guessing he and Matthew have regained their "childlike innocence." That, and the magic coursing through the veins thanks to that spell."

"And I am unable to see them why?

"One, you aren't a child. Two, you're certainly not innocent.

Matthew joined the other three as the fairies left to return to whatever it was fairies did on a Thursday afternoon.

"Honestly, Al, you didn't have to run off screaming bloody murder. They were really nice if you'd just let them talk."

"Nice? They were flying! And had weapons!"

"What do you mean, not innocent?"

"What are you talking about, the closest thing to a weapon was a daffodil!"

"You haven't been innocent since you could talk, you perverted git!"

"They were vicious I tell you!"

"What the fuck is going on?"

"…?"

The four nations froze, slowly turning to the fifth voice in the yard. They stood there in stunned silence.

No. It couldn't be.

Matthew was the first to find his voice.

"G-G-G-Gilbert!"

* * *

Short chapter that forgot about the plot…sorry! I was going to make it longer, but the next part fit better on the beginning of the next chapter, which should go up either later tonight (if I'm feeling ambitious) or tomorrow afternoon (American Central Time). Also, I love cliffhangers cause I'm a mean, mean writer.

Review for me please!

~Duckie


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! They really make me feel so happy when I'm writing this story.

Some answers (hopefully) to some of the questions I got:

1. "DO I SMELL PRUCAN?

Kinda. Prucan is probably my favorite pairing. However, don't forget, as I've said before, I'm really bad at writing actual romance. If you want to squint, you'll probably find it. If not, they're friends.

2. "Alfred can see faeries now? Will England get along with Tony next?"

Both of the North America twins can see fairies. For now at least ;) It comes from having their "childlike innocence" back, which makes England wonder who gets to decided when someone has "childlike innocence" because they are obviously on crack. As for England and Tony, I doubt their relationship will improve any time soon. Especially since Tony doesn't even know this is happening. He's off at some UFO Convention. Just for fun.

On with the story!

* * *

"G-G-G-Gilbert!"

"Ja, it's the awesome me! I don't remember knowing any _Kinder_ though…" Gilbert glanced at Matthew, "Do I know you?"

"Prussia. What the _fuck_ are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Gilbert suddenly looked, strange though it was, serious as he turned to Arthur. "I've been trying to all Mattie for days and he won't answer. It's entirely unawesome. So I came here to see if you knew anything." His serious face was replaced by a mischievous grin. "Then I heard yelling," He looked around at the other inhabitants of the yard, "So I came to see if you needed to be awesomely resc-" His eyes truly focused on the young Canadian for the first time. His mouth dropped as he stared, wide-eyed, at the young nation.

"Birdie?"

Prussia, very unawesomely, passed out.

* * *

Gilbert slowly came to, putting a hand to his head.

"Did I pass out? That is so not awesome…" He was lying on a sofa in Arthur's sitting room. Gilbird was peeped from his chest. "Hey there buddy!" He patted the bird on the head. "I had the strangest dream. There was this little kid who looked just like Mattie."

"It wasn't a dream, Gil." A tiny voice said.

Gilbert turned toward the voice. The young blonde grinned at the albino from his seat across the coffee table.

"M-M-Matthew? Is that…you?"

"Yeah, it's really me."

"Scheiße…who, I mean, what…how?"

"Well…"

* * *

"Was it really a good idea, telling Prussia? This has really got to stay a secret! What if the wrong person found out and tried to take advantage of Alfred and Matthew?"

Arthur, Francis, and Alfred sat around the kitchen table, Alfred on his usual pile of books, after he complained the first day about the height of the furniture. Matthew was still talking with Gilbert in the sitting room.

"Angleterre, I have known Gilbert for a very long time. His is many things, narcissistic, overconfident, and rash, but he is also incredibly loyal. He cares about Mathieu and would not let any harm come to him."

"Yeah, Iggy, Gilbert's a nut, but he's not stupid. I think…"

The Prussian strolled into the kitchen, laughing.

"Gotta say, England, this is weeeird. Who would've guessed your crazy hocus-pocus actually works!"

Huge grin still stretched across his face, Prussia grabbed the English nation as Matthew walked in and took his seat at the table. Gilbert pulled Arthur into the hallway and up the stairs.

"Prussia, what are you doing?"

"I just want to have a little chat." The still grinning albino pulled Arthur into his bedroom.

"Chat? About -!" The wind was knocked out of England's lungs as his back was slammed against the wall.

All joy had left Prussia's face, England instead being treated to a cold stare from blood red eyes.

"You'd better be working as hard as you _fucking_ can to change them back."

Arthur coughed as he tried to catch his breath.

"You're worried about someone taking advantage of them? What about you? How does it feel to have your old colonies back?" Gilbert spat at the former empire.

"You really think I'm not trying? You really think I don't want them to be their normal selves again?"

"I think you have a history of taking advantage of nations weaker than you. If you mistreat one hair on _either_ of their heads, you'll be answering to me, and it won't be pretty."

Prussia walked out of the room, leaving the stunned Englishman behind.

* * *

The albino reappeared in the kitchen, normal grin decorating his lips, to find Francis alone.

"Hey, I've got to go, Bruder is probably wondering where I snuck off to by now. I'd rather not have the police come find me. Again. Where are the munchkins?

"They fell asleep. They're in the sitting room now."

"I won't wake them up, tell America I said hi and tell Mattie I'll come and visit again."

"Of course, mon ami, au revoir."

"Tchuss!"

Gilbert left through the back door, hopped the fence, and disappeared into London.

England reappeared as soon as the Prussian had left.

"A rather interesting chat you had, Angleterre."

"You heard? Did the boys?"

"Non, they had gone into the sitting room."

"Good." Arthur sat down roughly at the table. "I can't believe him! Does he really think I'd do anything to hurt them?"

"I think he is simply worried. Unfortunately, he responded to it in the only way he knows, by threatening someone until whatever is worrying him is fixed. He'll calm down eventually, and, though I doubt you'll get an apology, he'll stop threatening you. Though you must admit, Angleterre, he did have a point."

A sad look crossed Arthur's face as he walked toward the basement door. "…I know." His mood switched suddenly, serious and emotionless. "When the boys wake up, send them downstairs. I may have found something."

* * *

Next chapter should go up soon, it's already written in my head.

Don't forget to review please! Reviewers get one of the Halloween cookies my roommate is making! (Not that she knows that…)

~Duckie


	14. Chapter 14

"Alright, lads, see where I've marked on the floor? Stand there."

The trio was in Arthur's basement, though the twins had no idea what was happening. Francis had just grabbed them after they woke up and dropped them down here before running off to do Frenchy things.

"Arthur, what's going on, eh?"

"I may have found something that might help, but I need to look at the spell."

"Look…at the spell."

"Yes, damn it, now hold still."

The twins froze in their spots and watched Arthur curiously. He closed his eyes and began to mutter something that definitely wasn't English under with breath. A bright light started to spread through the room, forcing the brothers to close their eyes. Suddenly, the wall hit them.

* * *

Alfred opened his eyes. "Damn, did we switch? I didn't even hear the bell!" Sure enough, He found himself in the dark space, 19 year old body floating around.

"I didn't either…so how did we end up back here?"

"Because "here" isn't your subconscious." Arthur walked through mid air toward them, "this is the spell."

"um…what?"

Arthur sighed. "Every spell takes on a form. Particularly complex spells cast with powerful magic, such as this one, take on a form like as this."

"I cast a really powerful spell on my first try? Wow, imagine what would happen if I got a spell right!"

"No, Al, you are never ever _EVER_ doing magic again."

"It wouldn't matter if he tried. Alfred happened to take a rather special book from my collection. It is one of very few in the world that has magic ingrained into the text itself, meaning the caster doesn't need to have any magic to perform a spell."

Alfred actually looked a little sad, knowing that he didn't perform magic by his own power.

"Anyway, this room definitely proves one of my theories…"

"And that would be?"

"There is only one spell keeping both of you in your child forms."

"Does that…matter?"

"It simplifies things a little bit. It means I only have to focus on the one spell, rather than one for each of you."

"New question, Iggy!"

"Don't call me that! And what?"

"How is _this_ a spell, it's just a big black room!"

Arthur smirked. He raised a hand in front of him, focusing power into it. Suddenly, intricate white designs filled the room around them.

"_This_ is a spell."

Looking closely, they could see each of the curves of the complex designs consisted of strage lettering, which Arthur was now studying.

"It's a powerful spell. I know for sure now I can't break it."

"So there is nothing you can do!"

"I didn't say that, git, calm down!" Arthur studied the designs in silence for a few moments. "…I think I can weaken it."

"What will weakening it do?"

"I'm really not sure. It may make the spell last a shorter amount of time, or weaken the influence of your younger personalities, I can't really say."

"Well then, let's try it!"

Arthur smiled at the twins, "Yes, let's."

* * *

Chalk lines now decorated the floor of the basement. Alfred and Matthew each stood in the center of intricate circles, connected to the pattern surrounding the Englishman.

"Alright, lads, I'm going to go until I run out of magic. Once I start, I won't be able to stop. Now, whatever you do, DO NOT LEAVE THOSE CIRCLES. Understand?"

Both brothers nodded.

"Here we go…" Arthur held an ancient book in his hands, turned to a page somewhere near the middle, and began chanting. His hands and eyes glowed white with power, followed by the chalk designs on the ground. They wound their way toward the twins. Finally, the light met itself at the very end of the design.

All Alfred and Matthew knew then was pain.

It felt like every bone in their bodies was on fire. Both of them doubled over, gasping for breath as the pain overtook them. The world around them slowly faded to black.

* * *

Francis sat in the chair in Arthur's bedroom. He had not yet awoken and Francis was starting to get worried.

He'd gone to the basement after the trio had spent a few hours down there, only to discover all three lying on the ground, unconscious. He got them all into their respective beds, and since then both Alfred and Matthew had woken. Yet Arthur still lay here.

How long had they been lying in the basement? Matthew and Alfred had no idea. Francis told himself he should have been down there. Should have been keeping an eye on the English nation. He'd always had the habit of overexerting himself. Yet the Frenchman had listened when Arthur told him to stay out for a few hours.

On the other side of the room, Arthur stirred. Francis rushed over as the Englishman slowly opened his eyes.

"Angleterre, are you alright? You have been asleep for some time."

"I'm fine, Francis, I just used all the magic in my system. I tend to pass out after doing that." Arthur rubbed a hand across his face and through his hair. "Are the boys alright?"

"They are fine, they woke up some time ago."

"They passed out too? It must have put more strain on them than I thought. I'll need to get look at the spell again, see what I was able to change on it."

"I would not worry about that, Angleterre."

"Why the bloody hell not, frog"

"I believe the changes you made are quite obvious."

"Iggy's up!" America ran into the room.

England's eyes widened. The changes were certainly very obvious. Staring at him, from the foot of his bed, was Alfred F. Jones, approximate age: 10.

* * *

I hope nobody hates me for making them not 5 anymore. I realized part way into this story, long after I had made them 5 year olds, that some of my later plans had them much older than 5. Whoops.

Is it just me, or is there a lot of dialogue in this chapter.

Don't forget to send in a review. Sorry, there are no more cookies. One of my roommate's church friends ate them. ALL of them. Even I only got 1…

~Duckie


	15. Chapter 15

*Sorry for uploading the wrong chapter! (9 is #15 in the my Document Uploader...)

Sorry this took so long (for me). This would have been up earlier today, except my floor decided it was a good idea to watch _Ghostbusters_ for Halloween. I agreed, it was an excellent idea.

Wow, Chapter 15 already! I started this on…Monday…hooray for boring college lectures?

On with the story!

* * *

"Where on earth did you find those clothes?"

"Your storage! I can't believe you kept some of this stuff!" Alfred was dressed just as he had would have been in the early 1700s.

"I-I didn't know I had…" Arthur hardly ever even went into his attic. There were countless memories piled up in there. Too many of them were painful to remember.

Matthew walked into the room, also wearing clothes from long ago.

"Gilbert had to go, he sends his goodbyes. How are you feeling Arthur?"

Arthur looked slightly annoyed. "Fine. Gilbert was here?"

"Yeah, he's been coming every day since he found out."

"Every day…" Arthur turned a glare to Francis. "France. What day is it." It was more of a command than a question. The Frenchman shivered slightly under the force of the glare.

"Well, mon ami, il est lundi…après-midi."

Arthur struggled, trying to recall what little French he knew. He'd passed out Thursday evening, that was…Jeudi. Friday was…Vendredi. Samedi, that was Saturday. Sunday was…Dimanche. Monday, that was Lundi!

"It's MONDAY! I've been in bed for four days!"

"Not quite, Angleterre, more like three and three quarters days."

"You insufferable git, that's the same thing! Either way the conference is in a week!"

Matthew and Alfred froze. Blue and purple eyes, filled with terror, rested above wide mouths, round with shock.

"Oh for...both of you forgot, didn't you!"

The twins slowly nodded.

Arthur shook his head in frustration. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, basement. Both of you."

"Angleterre, you just woke up, surely you are not in any shape to be performing more magic."

"I'm not going to be doing any spells unless I absolutely have to. These two have been running around for four days and I'm not even sure if the spell is stable."

Alfred started walking backwards to face England. "Stable? What happens to us if it's not stable?"

"Well, either the spell could go back the way it was, or it could get even worse. I doubt you want to end up as 2 year olds. Now face forward when you walk, you're going to fall."

Alfred turned around. "Oh great, it's the _naggy_ Arthur. I didn't think I'd have to deal with _this_ ever again." He hissed to his twin.

"I heard that Alfred. I only nagged when you didn't think."

"But you were _always_ nagging me!"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE NEVER THINKING!"

Alfred started pouting as his twin tried to hide his laughter.

* * *

The twins were standing in the same spots on the floor as the previous time.

"Hey Arthur, is there any way to bring things into the big black spell thingy and keep them there?"

Big black spell thingy…Arthur sighed, "I probably could as long as whatever it is isn't too complex…why?"

"You have no idea how _boring_ it is in there. And I have just the thing." The American off, quickly returning down the stairs with…a deck of cards.

"That'll work fine, I'll bring it in."

"Awesome!" Alfred cheered as he returned to his designated spot.

* * *

"Mattie, are you from Texas?"

"um…what?"

"Are you from Texas? 'Cause there's no other way you could be beating me."

"That makes no sense."

"Sure it does! We're playing Texas hold 'em. I'm America, and Texas is part of America, therefore I should be winning. But you're beating me. So, you must be from Texas."

Matthew stared at his twin. "You know what, sure Alfred. I, Matthew Williams, the personification of CANADA, am from Texas. Now you know my secret."

"I KNEW IT!" Matthew's palm made a sudden impact with his face.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP! He's not from TEXAS! Now…" England paused.

"…Matthew." The Canadian supplied with a sigh.

Arthur blushed heavily. "Yes…Matthew, you know your brother doesn't understand sarcasm, please don't confuse him anymore than he already always is."

"I don't get it. You've had no problem remembering my name since this whole thing started, yet we've been in here for a couple hours, and you've already forgotten it 4 times."

"Maybe you just got more forgettable as you got older. You need to stand out to people! The sidekick position is still open…"

"Al, for the _one-thousand, seven hundred, and eighty-FOURTH _time: No."

"Anyway, lads, I've finished."

"So what's the verdict, Iggy?"

Arthur winced at the nickname, but ignored it. "The spell has locked itself."

"Locked! As in forever! Oh my god, we're going to be 10 year-olds forever! I'm never going to be able to drink again! I'm never going to get lai-" Alfred was cut off by Arthur's fist. To his face.

"WOULD YOU STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS! Locked means the spell is stable, but I can't do that trick again. However, weakening the spell appears to have shortened its length."

"By how much?" Matthew asked, while his brother mumbled (loudly) in the background about how "Iggy" punched him.

"Not by enough, I'm afraid. It should be worn off by next Friday."

"So, the _end_ of the meeting. Convenient." Matthew's response was dripping with sarcasm.

"At least we know it's not going to get worse. We'll figure out something for the meeting. Now let's get out of here, Francis should have dinner ready about now." Arthur sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Alfred, would you SHUT UP! It'll heal as soon as we leave, it's not even like you have a physical form right now."

"You mean I'm a ghost!" Alfred turned deathly pale. Then he started screaming.

If this room had walls, there would have been Arthur and Matthew shaped forehead dents in them by now.

* * *

Arthur awoke at the first thunderclap. He propped himself up in bed to see a storm was beginning to rage outside. He wasn't particularly surprised, it had been some time since London had had a good thunderstorm.

At the second thunderclap, Arthur's door opened slowly. He another flash of lightening revealed Alfred and Matthew, both looking a mix of frightened and sheepish. Both twins had always been afraid of thunderstorms, they just did a better job at hiding it when they were older. Luckily, Arthur still knew just what to do.

"Come on then, let's make tea." Alfred made a strange face for a moment. "Something sweet." Alfred grinned and the trio headed down to the kitchen.

* * *

As Arthur carried the tea tray into the sitting room, he heard laughter. The twins were on the couch, both leaning over something between them.

"Did you really _wear _this?" Alfred said as England approached. An old photo album rested between them, taken from one of the various boxes left in his sitting room after the apparently epic search for clothes a few days ago. It was open to a rather interesting picture of Arthur in a punk outfit.

Well, there was no use denying it. "From time to time. Punk was rather popular in England, it's not like I could ignore a part of myself."

"Yeah, but you're so…stuffy."

"I am not stuffy!"

"Actually, you kind of are." Matthew chimed in quietly.

Arthur poured the tea before picking up the photo album, noting the location of a few others around him. "There are plenty of pictures in here to prove I'm not 'stuffy.'"

* * *

Francis leaned on the doorway to the sitting room the next morning. The Englishman and the young twins were fast asleep on the sofa. With a smile, he turned to the kitchen to start making breakfast.

* * *

If you didn't know "après-midi" means "afternoon" in French. "Il est..." would be "It is...", The rest, I think, is pretty clear.

Ta-Da!

Review please!

~Duckie


	16. Chapter 16

"Ja! Fear my awesome tactical skills!"

The sound of a gunshot echoed around them. The sniper bullet hit the Prussian in his left temple. He fell to the ground, clearly dead.

"Yeah, well fear _my_ awesome headshot!"

"Scheiße, respawn already, I've got an American to annihilate!"

Matthew watched his brother and his best friend shoot the crap out of each other. Where Gilbert had gotten an X-Box 360 and a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when he'd clearly left his own in Berlin, the Canadian would never know. He had a sneaking suspicion, however, that it involved the technically illegal use of a certain German's credit card. Then again, past experience had told Matthew that Gilbert didn't understand the concept of "identity theft."

"Where are you Prussia? My rocket launcher is gonna screw you up!"

"Fuck you, I've got a tank!"

"…THERE AREN'T ANY TANKS IN MODERN WARFARE 2! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET-"

The doorbell rang, causing both nations (and one ex-nation) to freeze. Francis had gone to Paris to collect things he needed for the upcoming meeting and would be back sometime that evening. Arthur had taken advantage of Gilbert's presence and, leaving Matthew in charge, gone down to the Minister's office to gather some paperwork. He wouldn't be back for another hour at least, and certainly wouldn't bother to ring his own doorbell.

"Maybe we can ignore them and they'll think no one is home." Alfred hissed.

"Not with how you two were yelling! Gil, go answer it!"

"Me? Why me?"

"How would it look if either of us opened the door? Just go!" Canada gave a look that clearly said their hushed conversation was finished. He and his twin ducked behind the couch while Gilbert slowly walked to the front door.

"Yo!"

The man on the other side of the door sputtered in shock. "Gilbert-san! I-I was looking for England-san, is he here?"

"Nope! He had to go do work or something."

"Oh…could you tell him I stopped by? There is a matter I would like to discuss before the next meeting."

"Ja! I'll let him know. Later, Japan!" Gilbert slammed the door in the Asian nation's face.

Alfred and Matthew both sighed in relief. Of all the nations that could have shown up at the door, Kiku was the easiest to get rid of since he was so polite. Anyone else would have barged in anyway.

"Now, about your death at the hands of my tank…"

"YOU CAN'T HAVE A TANK!"

* * *

Japan, meanwhile, was walking back to his hotel room, contemplating the strange scene he had just witnessed.

Last he had checked, and he usually checked quite often, Gilbert and Arthur hated each other. So what was the ex-nation doing in the Englishman's house, especially when he wasn't home. Besides that, he could have sworn he'd heard other voices before Gilbert answered the door, voices that were definitely not Arthur.

But that wasn't the only problem Kiku had noticed. He was a very perceptive nation, and though he never left the front door, he saw certain things within the house that just didn't make sense. Though he knew England to be a rather tidy person, the house was obviously rather messy at the moment. Beyond that, there were some things that didn't belong, such as the two pairs of child's shoes left near the doorway. Who did those belong to? Finally, just before Gilbert shut the door, he saw movement, though he knew England did not own any pets, if you didn't count his imaginary friends.

Now if only he could remember where he'd seen that bear before…

* * *

Two days later, they were all gathered around the table for dinner. Arthur cleared his throat, and the other four (Prussia had invited himself to stay for dinner…again.) turned to the English nation.

"As you know, it's Friday. The world meeting begins in just three days." Alfred and Matthew suddenly looked troubled. Three days until they had to meet with the other nations of the world, and they still looked like 10 year-olds.

"You'll be glad to know, I have a plan."

* * *

I know it's a really short chapter! The world meeting is coming really soon, and hopefully those will be longer. I've got some pretty major tests for a couple of my courses this week, including German, so my writing time will probably be limited. I figured you guys would probably prefer a short chapter to no chapter at all!

Also, I have never played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2...The closest I've ever come in Halo, which I played...badly...(I suck far less at video games now, that was about 6 years ago...) So if I got anything wrong about the game, I'm sorry. I just know there aren't really playable vehicles in multi-player mode. Yet Gilbert had a tank. Must be cause he's just that awesome.

Even though it's short, please send a review my way anyway!

~Duckie


	17. Chapter 17

Procrastination, thou art the bane of my existence. Enjoy the chapter :P

* * *

"So that explains where _Bruder_ has been getting dinner. I knew he wasn't eating at restaurants to "sample the local cuisine," how stupid does he think I am?"

"Germany-san, that wasn't really why we're here…"

Two of the three former Axis powers were currently staked outside the Englishman's house. Kiku had informed Ludwig of the strange incident involving his brother, and ever since the two had been keeping an eye on the house. Unfortunately most days, the curtains were shut tight, and with unknown goings on inside, they dared not attempt to infiltrate the house. Thanks to a random stroke of luck, however, England had left the shades to the kitchen/dining room open that evening.

Not that it had helped explain anything so far. All they knew so far was France was staying in the English household and Gilbert had taken to mooching meals off the island nation. Also, there seemed to be two strange blonde children.

"I don't know Japan, maybe they are local neighbor kids England is looking after. Though I don't know why any sane person would expose children to Gilbert…"

"England-san doesn't seem the type to babysit. There is something strange going on, I am quite sure of it."

The two nations turned back to the camera giving them a proper view of the kitchen. Though there was no sound, it was quite clear Gilbert was getting ready to leave.

"Keep watch, I need to beat Gilbert back to the hotel, so he does not get suspicious."

As German descended from their vantage point, Japan watched as Gilbert leaned in close to one of the children, then turned to leave through the back door with a smirk on his face. He must have said something to anger the child, who jumped up as soon as Gilbert walked out the backdoor. Japan watched, with mild humor, as the young child tackled the Prussian. England ran out and, with a little too much effort, pulled the youth off of Gilbert. That was when Japan saw the face of the blonde child for the first time. He promptly passed out.

* * *

"Do you still need to eat dinner, _Bruder_, or did you find some local cuisine to taste again?" The German walked into the living room, drying his hair.

"Already ate."

Ludwig had run across town in order to beat his brother back to their hotel, since the Prussian had decided to take the bus. Luckily for him, the double-decker had gotten trapped in a traffic jam thanks to a traffic accident not far from Arthur's house. Even so, he'd barely made it back before his brother and had been forced to jump in the shower to avoid suspicion.

Apparently, it had worked, since the Prussian had come in and immediately started watching TV.

"So…_Bruder_, what have you been doing lately?"

"Nothing much, West, you know, just gracing the people of London with my Awesomeness."

Germany blushed, shaking his head trying to get the thought out of his mind. No, he didn't mean it like that! It's just Prussian speak for seeing the sights! NO!

Luckily, a frantic knock at the door pulled Ludwig away from the strange direction his mind had gone. He opened the door to find a paler than usual, anxious looking Japan.

"We must talk. Now." The Asian nation glanced at Gilbert across the room, "_Somewhere your brother won't hear us._" He hissed in Japanese. Ludwig had started to learn the language some time ago, and though far from fluent, Japan knew his point would get across. He also knew Prussia had no hope of understanding what was said, which was confirmed by the huffy look he suddenly had on his face.

"Alright, I know where to go." Ludwig led the Japanese man down the hallway. He pulled out another keycard and led Japan into Feliciano and Lovino's room. The Italian brothers had gone out to eat a late dinner, so the two were alone where Gilbert could definitely not hear him.

"What is it Japan? Did you find something out?"

"Look at this." Japan replied simply, handing the German a photograph from the Polaroid they had stored in their vantage point.

"This…is one of the boys we saw at England's house?" He was definitely confused now.

"Look at it closely."

Ludwig stared at the picture. "He looks a little bit familiar, but I can't seem to place him."

"That is because he is not his normal self. I actually, unfortunately, lost consciousness from shock when I first realized who this was. However, when I awoke, I managed to overhear some of their conversation. Prussia-san had already left, however Arthur-san…he called this boy by name."

"And…" Ludwig was actually surprised at how anxious he was feeling to know the truth.

"He called him 'Alfred.'"

The name clicked in Ludwig's head, the connection forming. He steadied himself on Veneziano's bed.

"I-It…it must be a coincidence…"

"I'm afraid all the evidence is just too convincing. We must face the fact that the seemingly young boy is this picture is Alfred F. Jones – America."

"But it's just not possible! We age along with our lands as they grow. How can a nation _de-age_!"

"I am afraid I do not know, Germany-san."

Germany sighed and tried to regain what little was left of his composure. "So then, who is the other boy? They obviously go together…"

"That took me some thinking…but I believe America-san has a brother, does he not? Though his name escapes me…"

Germany winced a bit inside. That's right, America's brother. The one his own brother spent so much time with, going on about his "awesome pancakes." His older sibling always berated him for forgetting the other nation.

"It's…Canada. Yes, Canada. This is deeply troubling Japan."

"I know, Germany-san. What should we do?"

"I'd say nothing would be an _awesome_ idea." Japan and Germany jumped as Prussia dropped to the ground next to them.

"_Bru-BRUDER_! How did you get in here?"

"Through the vents. Did you know they connect in all the rooms? I could steal so much- No, off topic. You two have been spying."

Prussia looked at them with a serious face that had not been seen for hundreds of years. The two twitched under the glare.

"Normally, I would only be disappointed you didn't include the Awesome Me. But this is serious. Now, you're not going to say _anything_ about this, right?"

"But Prussia-san, this-"

"No. Do you understand what could happen? What if Russia found out? Or anyone else who would take advantage of the situation? No, you're going to forget you saw anything and keep quiet, _verstehen_?"

"But what about the meeting on Monday? _Bruder_, everyone is going to find out then!"

A frightening smirk crossed the former nation's lips. "Don't worry, it's _all_ taken care of."

* * *

_verstehen_? = understand? and you better all be able to figure out what _Bruder_ means..._  
_

Incredible lack of Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur in this chapter…

Review anyway!

~Duckie


	18. Chapter 18

Lithuania always liked world meetings. Sure, Russia was around somewhere, but there were enough other countries that it hardly mattered. Also, it was nice to talk to some of the nations he didn't get to see very often.

"Hey there Toris!" A strong arm fell over his shoulders.

"Hello, Mr. America! It's been awhile!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Alfred! Or at least America. None of this 'mister' stuff!"

Toris smiled at his friend. "Sorry Alfred, I guess old habits die hard."

Alfred laughed. "So Toris, how've you been? Sill got the Commie on your back?"

"You do know Ivan is not a Communist anymore, right?"

"Eh, old habits, right?" He replied with a grin. Lithuania laughed…same old Alfred.

"He's still around, but he's really not that ba- Alfred?"

The superpower had stopped walking with the Baltic nation. With one hand gripping his chest, the American cringed in pain.

"Alfred! America! Are you alright?" Lithuania had rushed back to Alfred's side. Alfred's face relaxed and he took his hand off his chest. He looked up at Toris and grinned, though the smile, for once, didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm fine! You know, just economy problems and stuff. Stock market probably took a bit of a drop or something. Come on, let's head to the meeting room!"

The Lithuania followed America down the hall as he chatted away about something or another, but his thoughts weren't really with the conversation. In his mind, Toris was slightly suspicious about the strange pain the American had felt.

* * *

America felt great. It was almost lunch break and the meeting had gone without a hitch. Alfred grinned at his brother, who smiled back as they both glanced down the table at England. The normally focused nation almost appeared to be sleeping. His elbows rested on the table, fingers crossed in fists, thumbs holding up his chin. He'd spent the entire meeting with his eyes shut. Perfect.

Alfred was the last one to speak before the break for lunch. He stood up and walked to the front of the room, still in a great mood. He was giving his presentation on how global warming could be stopped by dropping huge blocks of ice into the ocean once in a while. He'd heard the idea on a TV show, though he couldn't remember which one. It must've been some science program though, there had definitely been a professor. And possibly a robot. Yeah, definitely sciency. Unfortunately, others did not seem to feel the same way.

"Америка, that could not possibly work."

"It totally would! And what's your big idea, you commie bastard?"

"If you had been listening an hour ago, you would have heard my presentation. But, I understand that you have difficulty with concentrating, yes? I shall 'sum it up' you you?" His childish smile was really starting to creep out the American.

No one's quite sure who through the first chair, but eventually the two were chucking every chair they could find at each other. Not that anyone was surprised, that's how meetings usually went.

"Take this, commie bastard!" America threw two chairs in quick succession at the Russian. Ivan dodged the first chair, but the second was coming fast. Acting reflexively, he hit the incoming chair with Latvia's chair, which had been in his hands already. The chair broke on impact, sending the largest piece flying down the table.

Right. At. England.

The wood hit the Englishman right on the forehead, causing the apparently sleeping nation to fall backwards, bleeding slightly and now obviously unconscious.

Many of the nations gathered around the island nation, who had, for once, been an innocent bystander to the violence.

Ivan stared at the activities going on at the far end of the room before turning back to the aggravating American. Only…

"Where did Америка go?"

* * *

Germany and Japan seemed to be the only ones in the room who had noticed Canada grab his brother and dash out of the room as soon as Arthur had been hit. Then again, that wasn't terribly surprising. It had taken all of their effort to see the Canadian the entire meeting, and they actually had a reason to keep an eye on him.

Not that either was completely sure what that reason was anymore. They both remembered seeing the picture, they both remembered staking out England's house. Yet things weren't adding up anymore. Prussia had threatened them a few days ago, they were sure, yet when Germany finally got up the nerve to question his older brother, he got nowhere. Gilbert had treated him like he was a nut, declaring he had no idea what his younger sibling was talking about. His brother was, surprisingly, very convincing. He knew Gilbert couldn't lie like that! Could he?

What's more, the picture was gone, as was any proof they had even spied outside England's house. It was like it'd never happened. But it must have! They remembered…

But they saw America and Canada at the meeting, completely normal. They looked normal, talked normal, acted like their normal selves. At least, until they had dashed out.

The two former axis powers crept down the hallway, searching for any sign of the mysteriously vanishing twins.

* * *

Lithuania found himself looking in a different hallway for the brothers. To anyone who didn't know Alfred very well, he would have seemed normal. But Lithuania had spent years living in the American's house. And the America he saw today was definitely acting strange.

Besides the chest pain he'd seen Alfred have that morning, he noticed other oddities in the way he was acting. It was almost as if he was being…cautious. At least until the chair throwing had started.

Toris managed to see Alfred's brother grab him and run out of the room, though he wasn't quite sure where the other had come from. Had he been there the whole time? Oops…

One way or another, he was sure this is the way Alfred had gone. He'd caught sight of the American's jacket before they disappeared around the corner. Yet, where could they have gone? So many questions were floating through his head.

One thing was certain, however. Something was definitely up.

Toris saw a door that was open just a crack ahead. The sign on it read "Janitor's Closet." Might as well check.

He peered into the dark room. It was actually fairly large for a janitor's closet. Then again, they did have to clean up the nation's messes. He suddenly felt bad for the poor custodians as he reached the center of the room and turned on the light.

As soon as light filled the room, Toris felt small hands press something to his face. He gasped, only to realize what a stupid move that was. The scent of the chloroform in the cloth overpowered his senses and he fell to the ground. As his vision blurred he saw two small forms stand over him.

"Fuck…Toris." The voice was small…distant…

The Lithuania blacked out.

* * *

England stirred to find France leaning over him. Urg, what a terrible sight. He pushed the Frenchman away, trying to remember how he ended up on the ground in the first place.

Meeting. Git. Chair. Git. Pain. Pass out. Bloody hell.

Arthur bolted up. He looked around the room, but didn't see anyone too short or anyone freaking out. Then again, he didn't see either of the North Americans at all. Damn it.

"Angleterre, are you alright?"

Arthur's eyes flashed to the Frenchman, anger clearly etched into his face. He grabbed the other man's collar and pulled him in very close.

"Where. Are. The. Twins?" England hissed into Francis's ear so that only he could hear.

"I do not know, mon ami." A lecherous smile crawled onto the Frenchman's lips. "We are quite close now aren't we."

Arthur punched Francis in the face.

"I guess England is alright now-aru. Anyone for lunch?"

* * *

Gilbert can be quite the intimidating older brother. Especially when he just recently went full war-monger on them.

The reasons Ludwig and Kiku are no longer quite sure what is going on:

They think Gilbert is a terrible liar and couldn't be pulling this off.

Everything is gone. The picture, the video, the cameras. Everything.

It's just so unbelievable, they've unknowingly convinced themselves they didn't see what they think they saw. But they still know something is up.

Sorry if anyone is totally OOC. Also, this will probably make a lot more sense after the next chapter.

Send me reviews please!

~Duckie


	19. Chapter 19

"...is…n-up…Tor…-ome on, wake-up! Toris…" Lithuania slowly drifted back into consciousness. He heard his name, but didn't recognize the voice. Had whoever knocked him unconscious also kidnapped him? Slowly, he started to open his eyes.

As soon as he saw the light of the janitor's closet, something covered his eyes. Hands, definitely hands. Small though…child's hands.

"Good, you're awake."

"Who-Who are you?"

"About that…you're kinda gonna freak out. We need you to freak out _less_ right now. So, our questions first. One, why did you come here?"

Lithuania thought it best to just answer the questions. He really wanted to get out of here now, this was all really weird. "I was looking for a friend, saw he had come this way and wondered if he had ducked into this closet."

"Okay, nothing weird, just wondering where he went, right?"

"Yes."

"Good, question 2, do you remember right where you are?"

"Um, as long as I haven't been moved, yes."

"Even better. Now, we're gonna uncover your eyes and you're gonna find your phone on your chest. Unlock the phone and call someone to come get you out of this closet. Don't look around yet, okay?"

The hands left his eyes and, sure enough, his phone sat on his chest. He punched in the password to unlock it and dialed Estonia's number. He pressed call and a message popped up on his screen.

"I can't call for someone to come get me…I have no service."

"Fuck!"

"Um…whoever you are…you could just let me leave…I'll go quietly."

"No, we really can't." A young boy about 10 stepped into Toris's line of vision. "The door shut and locked. We're trapped in here until someone comes to let us out." Toris was hardly listening to the boy. He looked so…familiar, but the Baltic nation just couldn't seem to place him.

"Do I know you? You look like someone…"

"Yeah, that's where the whole 'you're gonna freak out' thing comes into play." The voice came from his left, though the speaker was still out of sight. "Toris, promise me you aren't gonna pass out."

"Um…I promise?"

The voice sighed. A second 10 year-old stepped in front of him. This one look similar to the first, and the feeling of familiarity was even stronger. Yet his mind wouldn't tell him how he knew the boys.

"Who…?"

"It's me, Toris…Alfred."

Lithuania passed out.

* * *

Arthur was angry. Angry at Francis for ignoring Alfred and Matthew while he was unconcious. Angry at Alfred and Matthew for running off and _not telling him where they went_. They probably forgot their phones. Bloody gits. He was angry at Russia for hitting him in the face with a bloody chair. He was mad at Alfred for throwing the damn bloody chair in the first place.

Scratched that, Arthur wasn't angry…he was pissed.

Now he was searching all over the building for the brothers, who were no doubt back to their 10 year-old appearances.

* * *

"_I can't make you any older. The spell is locked, so I can't mess with that."_

"_So what's the plan, Iggy?"_

_Alfred rubbed the now aching back of his head as Arthur continued. "So, we're going to try illusionary magic."_

"_So, we'll look like our normal selves, even though we're not?"_

"_There are some risks involved, though. Illusionary magic can be tricky, especially for long periods of time. We need to do some tests with it, starting tonight."_

"_Well, have fun playing with more magic. I got to leave before West starts to get suspicious that I'm up to something."_

"_He's always suspicious you're up to something, Gil. Because you usually are."_

"_True. Oh, Alfred," He leaned in close to the American, "Warfare…not really your thing. You should probably work on that."_

_As Gilbert walked out the back door, Alfred slowly turned red. "I'MA GONNA-!" America jumped up from his seat and tackled the Prussian._

"_Alfred! Would you act you age!"_

"_Technically, I think he is…"_

_England sent a quick glare to the Canadian, "Alfred! Would you act your __true__ age!" He struggled to pull the tiny American off of Gilbert. Damn him and his ridiculous strength!_

(line here) (line here) (line here) (line here) (line here) (line here) (line here) (line here)

_Francis walked down the stairs to the basement to be greeted by two 19 year-old grins._

"_I see it is working!"_

"_Sort of. I can get them to look 19 at least. Things like their strength are still that of their 10 year-old selves, but with their super strength, it hardly matters."_

"_They look like themselves, though, so what is the problem?"_

"_The spell needs a continuous supply of magic."_

"…_?"_

"_It means I'll have to sit there pouring magic into these two to keep them looking right."_

"_Oh. What if you stop adding you magic, Angleterre?"_

"_Two minutes. That's how long we've got until the illusion disappears."_

* * *

Everything was going fine until America and Russia had to have that ridiculous chair fight. They had to screw around and look what happened! He got knocked unconscious and unconscious tends to equal no magic. Now the twins were who knows where, most likely 10 year-olds, in a building full of nations with nothing to do.

* * *

"…ris…Toris…wake-up Toris…" Lithuania stirred, coming around for the second time that day. He opened his eyes, slowly sat up, and looked around. The kids were still there.

"So much for not passing out. Are you alright Toris?" One of the kids asked. The one that looked like Alfred. Mini-not-Alfred.

"How exactly do you know my name?"

"I told you, Toris, I'm Alfred – America. Remember?"

"No."

"You don't remember?"

"No. I remember. But you are not America."

"Oh great, denial." It was the other child who spoke.

"Who are you claiming to be?"

"Not claiming, I _am_ Matthew. Canada."

"No. You're not."

The not-Alfred spoke up, "You want proof I'm Alfred? Fine." The boy smirked. "Remember that one Christmas, when Poland came over?" Lithuania blushed.

"Yes. What about it?"

"I am one the only one there besides the two of you who saw the picture he brought before you threw it in the fireplace. Would you like me to describe it?"

"What picture? I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well it was you in a red Santa hat, and a red Santa top, and a red Santa skir-"

"STOP!" Alfred grinned.

"Okay…I-I believe you…but…h-how?"

* * *

"Ludwig-san, I think the meeting will be restarting soon."

"It won't last long even if it does. America isn't there."

"He might be…"

"I doubt it. We know Alfred and…his brother are still in the building, or else the guards would have seen something. But no one left during the lunch break, so they can't have left either. They weren't in there when we passed the meeting room, and we've searched everywhere else. America and…the other one…are somewhere in this wing of the building."

"But, does it really matter? Maybe they just didn't want to sit through the meeting for the rest of the day."

"No, something is up. And if something is up, it might matter whether we find them or not. What if they're fakes?"

"Impostors? But how?"

"I don't know anymore Japan, I really don't know."

"They we really will have to find them to-" The Asian nation froze. "Do you hear something?"

* * *

"So you're telling me that England's magic stuff…is real?"

"Apparently. We're kinda living proof to that, aren't we?"

"But this is just so…strange! You know this is strange, right?"

"I'm stuck in the body of a 10 year-old version of myself. Pretty sure I know it's strange, Toris."

"…Right."

"Hey, I think I hear someone in the hallway!" Matthew had been sitting with his ear against the door while Alfred explained their situation to Lithuania.

"So, what do we do?"

"Pound on the door and hope whoever it is opens it, Al."

"But, we're 10."

"…Okay, we'll hide and Lithuania will pound on the door."

* * *

"It is coming from that door over there." Japan pointed to a plain door marked 'Janitor's closet.'

Someone was pounding on the door from the inside.

"_Hello? Is someone out there? Hellooooo?"_

"That's not America-san. I believe it is Lithuania, though I may be mistaken."

"Well, this is the last hallway. Why don't you head back to the meeting, I'll get him out." Japan took his leave as Ludwig headed over to the closet door and pushed.

Lithuania toppled backwards as he was pushed away from the opening door.

"Lithuania? Ah, I'm sorry, let me help you up." The German stepped into the closet the give Toris a hand. Behind him, the door shut with a click.

Both nations turned to the door with horror. Ludwig dashed back and grabbed the handle, pulling to no avail.

"Damn it! Now we're all trapped!" Ludwig slowly turned at the unfamiliar voice. There, right in front of him, were the two he'd been searching for all afternoon. As children.

"Now Ludwig, I know this is sort of weird, but we can explain. Just remain calm." That was…Canada. Yes, Canada. The one that made pancakes. As a 10 year-old.

"Scheiße! I knew he was lying. He probably stole all the cameras too!"

"Um…what?"

* * *

Sorry this chapter was delayed a bit, I was going to post it earlier. However, my University is having its second bomb threat in ten days. Oh joy. Not my dorm, but that doesn't mean it doesn't screw with my day. They caught the guy who made the first one. His reasoning? He "wanted to see how fast their response time would be." I wish I was kidding. Right now, I'm just glad I'm not a freshman who would have been living in that all freshman dorm. It's cold and windy today.

Anyway, story. I actually feel kind of bad for Lithuania. He wasn't even terribly suspicious, more worried. And now he's stuck in a janitor's closet with to shrunken nations and a very confused/frustrated German. Poor guy.

Review please! (Reviews inspire me to write more and update faster ;D)

~Duckie


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry this chapter is so late! It's nearing the end of the semester, so I just had a bunch of tests and papers due. Homework is calming down now. Now I just have to worry about bomb threats…(My University has had SIX over the past EIGHTEEN days…it's starting to get a tiny bit excessive)

I really don't think this chapter turned out that great, it's mostly stuff that was necessary to move the story forward. Hope you all still enjoy!

* * *

"Scheiße! I knew he was lying. He probably stole all the cameras too!"

"Um…what?"

The German ignored them and continued ranting to himself about cameras and lying, much to the confusion of the room's other occupants.

"Alright, I didn't expect him to stay calm, but what is he talking about?"

"Dunno…Hey! Germany! You're freaking out about the wrong thing, dude!"

Ludwig stopped rambling and sighed, turning to the shrunken nations. "I should be panicking about you, Ja? I already knew…sort of."

The brothers tensed. How had the German already known? And if he knew, who else had found out? Matthew was the first to find his voice. "How? Did…did Gilbert tell you?"

Germany let out a single laugh. "He didn't tell me anything. We found out on our own."

"We?"

"Myself and Japan."

"So, how'd you figure it out? I thought we were being pretty caref-" Alfred's eyes flashed. "Cameras…you two were _spying_."

Germany tensed. "N-Not on…you…on Bruder…"

The Canadian erupted with laughter. "Gil would be _so_ mad if he knew you'd been spying on him! You should've seen Francis and Antonio the time they tried it, he went full Empire of Prussia on them. It was _scary_."

A faint blush appeared on Ludwig's cheeks. Better not tell them about the threats. "He knew enough to take our cameras, the photo, and lie through his teeth till we thought we'd both gone insane."

While Matthew was still giggling to himself, Alfred noticed something in the German's words.

"Photo? There is a _picture_ floating around? Photographic evidence!"

"Not anymore, I'm sure. If Gilbert took it, he probably destroyed it. If for no other reason than he takes great joy from destroying things."

The German took a seat next to Toris, who'd been pretty much forgotten for this entire conversation. "I still don't understand, though. You two were your normal selves this morning…how are you young now? How were you ever young again in the first place?"

"Well…"

* * *

Japan was really starting to worry. He should never have left Germany alone. Now all the nations but those four who were mysteriously missing were trapped inside the meeting room.

Denmark had decided that they "Never get anything done at these meetings because everyone runs out half way through." The Scandinavian nation had declared himself guardian of the door, declaring that no one could leave until the meetings finished for the day at 5:00pm. Though everyone agreed Matthias was being utterly ridiculous, no one really felt like challenging the rather large ax slung over his shoulder.

Even though they were all trapped in the room, nothing was getting done. Most nations who were not asleep (Greece) were watching the shouting match going on at the room's only exit. England had been pulled into the conference room at the last moment by the crazed Dane, and the two were now busy yelling at each other. However, judging by the fact that this had been going on for over an hour and England had yet to leave the room, Denmark was winning.

Japan's thoughts turned back to the missing German. He had to do something, Germany could be in trouble. Kiku slowly pulled out his cellphone and typed up a concise text message. His hand hovered over send. Was it really necessary to call for help? Maybe he _could_ talk his way out of the room to search for Ludwig…

Denmark swung his ax.

Japan hit Send.

* * *

"…Magic."

"Yup!"

Germany had heard a lot of very strange things come out of America's mouth, but this was by far the weirdest. Yet it was the only explanation that made the slightest bit of sense.

"You are aware of how difficult that is to believe."

"Yup!"

Ludwig sighed. How could he be so…chipper? It was like dealing with a smaller, louder, braver version of Italy.

"Hey, um, I think I hear something, but I'm not sure what it is…" The other three turned to the Lithuania, who had taken over the job of listening at the door for someone to let them out.

All four nations had their ears pressed against the door.

"I can barely even hear it…Ah!" Ludwig stepped back from the door as a suddenly louder sound rang through the wood. "There is your answer, though I doubt the _clock tower_ will open the door."

* * *

_Incoming Text-_

Japan:_ Germany has gone missing and I am afraid he is in trouble. He was last seen in the 4__th__ floor north wing of the World Conference Center. Please help, I am unable to leave the conference room._

Interesting…Japan rarely asked for his help…in fact, the Asian nation rarely even talked to him…

Looks like things at the conference center were about to get awesome.

* * *

"America? Canada?" Germany turned to Lithuania. "Do you know what's wrong with them?"

"I don't know, they just…froze."

The twins were leaning against the door, identical blank faces staring at nothing. Carefully, Germany moved the two unresponsive nations so they were sitting against the opposite wall.

Slowly, the two North Americans nations blinked, their eyes unglazing as they took in their surroundings.

"Are you alright?" Toris's voice was filled with worry.

Both young nations' eyes snapped to the other two countries. America jumped up, a fierce look on his face (though his 10 year-old features failed to make his glare intimidating in the slightest.) He threw his arms out, defending his twin, who was hiding behind his bolder brother.

"Who are you?" Though the voice was the same, something had changed in the tone of the American's speech. It had lost the confidence that normally filled the superpower's words. He seemed almost…scared.

"Alfred, what's wrong? It's me, Toris…"

"How do you know my name?" Alfred's features relaxed a touch. "Do you know England?"

"Yes, we both know England." Lithuania glanced at Germany, who was still frozen in a state of disbelief.

America's arms dropped, his features changing back to a grin. Yet, it still wasn't America's real smile, filled with confidence. It was strange for the two European nations to see.

"So you must be countries, like England! That's so neat, I wish I was a country!"

"Um…you're not?"

Alfred shook his head. "I'm just a colony. Alfred F. Jones, America!" Matthew gripped his brother's shirt. "And this is my brother! He's a colony too!"

"I'm…Matthew, Canada. Who are you?"

"C-Colonies…" Lithuania's eyes were wide as he sank to his knees.

"I'm Germany, you may call me Ludwig. This is Lithuania, Toris."

"I've never heard of you…are you friends of England? He said we're not supposed to talk to countries he wasn't friends with…"

"Mein Gott…"

Toris fainted.

* * *

I hope you all picked up on who Japan called for help.

Next chapter really is in the works and it shouldn't take me as long to get up.

Reviews please!

~Duckie


	21. Chapter 21

Alrighty, new chapter! (Finally)

So, the reason updates have been taking me longer than they used to:

I have been working on a new story. I know, I know, I should probably finish one thing before starting something else, but I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. So the first two chapters of "Something Wicked" have been posted and I would be deeply honored if you would all go check it out and tell me what you think so far. Caution- that story will probably have some dark moments. I've got it pretty well planned out though, more so than I did this one actually. So please check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Shameless plug finished, on with the story!

* * *

"Lithuania? Come on, wake-up please…"

"Mr. Germany?" Alfred looked inquisitively at him. "Where is England?"

"He's…not here."

"Where is he? Can you take us to him? He said we aren't supposed to wander very far away…"

"He's probably in a meeting. And…well, I'm sorry, but the door is locked."

"W-W-We're trapped?" The Canadian's eyes were wide with fear.

"Um…yes."

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, as both young nations immediately started crying.

"TORIS! Wake-up!" Ludwig started shaking the Lithuanian, who was still out cold. "I'm not good with children! Please wake-up!"

Lithuania was still out of it, and didn't appear to be waking up any time soon.

"Scheiße!" The twins were still bawling their eyes out. Germany racked his brain, thinking back to his own childhood...

Damn it! He had no memory of his childhood!

No wait, he remembered being around 10...Prussia had been taking care of him. What did his brother do when he cried?

"_Shut-up you little fucking pansy! How the fuck do you expect to be my Awesome little Bruder if you're crying like a fucking baby all the time!"_

Oh, right. Gilbert was insane.

Damn it, think! There had to be something he could do! Slowly, an old memory surfaced. That was it…

"It'll be alright, someone is going to come and save us real soon."

Though the twins stopped crying, they both looked unsure. "Really?"

"Ja, but until then, how would you like to hear a story?"

Two pairs of young eyes brightened at the idea. "Is it gonna be a story about pirates, like England tells?"

"No, not about pirates. This story is called 'The Time Awesome-Guy Saved The World.'"

* * *

The Nations really needed to get better guards. He'd been banned from all World Conference buildings 3 years ago after that incident with the whip cream, the marbles and the rhesus monkey. It really wasn't fair to ban him, they'd been Hong Kong's fireworks! It didn't really matter though, it was still really easy for him to get into the buildings. All it took was a flash of his ID and a fist to the skull of whoever was on duty. Easy as pie.

Prussia strolled through the halls of the conference center. According to what little he'd gotten out of Japan, his brother had last been seen going to get Lithuania out of a closet he'd somehow locked himself in. He doubted West was in any real trouble, he could totally handle himself if he was.

As he approached the room Japan's messages had directed him to, he started to hear voices.

"…_and so, Awesome-Guy had defeated the evil Piano-Man. But Awesome-Guy was not out of the woods yet…"_

* * *

"What happens next?"

"Piano-Man's wicked partner, Frying-Pan Woman, appeared, and demanded that Awesome-Guy surrender the poor souls he had rescued from Piano-Man's reign of terror."

The two young twins were enthralled with Germany's story. Hopefully, Hungary wouldn't kill him if she found out he was telling this story again. The one time she'd heard Gilbert tell it, his brother couldn't walk right for the next 4 months.

The door suddenly burst open, almost breaking off its hinges. Lithuania, who had been nursing a headache from his third session of unconsciousness, cringed at the raucous laughter that suddenly filled the small room.

"Did somebody call for some Awesome help?" Ludwig stood up and approached his brother, glad for the open space the hallway provided.

"No, though it is appreciated? How did you know where to find us?"

"My Awesome sense was tingling."

"Bruder…"

"Japan texted me."

"Wait. Kiku asked for _your_ help? Why didn't he just come himself?"

"According to the text that just came through from Estonia, Denmark is holding everyone hostage in the conference room until 5. Something about not wanting to hold a make-up day…"

The North American brothers followed the two older nations out of the janitor's closet. Alfred looked from Gilbert to Ludwig, and a look of realization crossed his face.

"Awesome-Guy is Mr. Gilbert! That is SO COOL!"

Germany's palm found his forehead as his brother started laughing again. He never should have told that story.

"That's right!" He pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. "Want to see just how Awesome I can be?"

Alfred nodded, a humongous grin plastered on his face, as his brother nodded more shyly behind him.

Gilbert walked over to the window and threw it wide open. The sounds of London flowed in through the window as the twins stared expectantly at the Prussian. He, however, simply stood by the window and grinned as the noise from the city was drowned out beneath the chimes of Big Ben. As the fifth chime finished, Prussia closed the window.

"_That_ is how Awesome I am."

"Bruder, what are you-"

Alfred started swearing.

* * *

"Denmark, it is 5 o'clock and most of the chairs and tables have been destroyed, can we _leave now_!" England's rather large eyebrow was twitching with frustration.

"Oh, sure. Meeting's over, so I couldn't care less."

The Englishman was about ready to strangle the Dane when Francis placed a hand on his shoulder. He leaned in close to his ear, close enough that Arthur was ready to sock him in the nose if his tried shifting one millimeter closer.

"I know where the boys are." The Frenchman hissed. "We should go collect them before anyone _else_ discovers their secret."

Arthur nodded and headed toward the door, but stopping short so as to not be run over by Kiku. The Japanese nation apologized quickly before rushing off down the hallway.

"So how the bloody hell do you know where to find the twins?" Arthur was glad to be out of hearing distance of the other nations. He was still slightly embarrassed at how it must have looked when they left. After all, to anyone else, Francis, king of all perverts, whispered something in his ear and then they left together. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

"I received a message from Gilbert. Apparently, they had managed to lock themselves in a closet on accident."

"Well, that could have been worse."

"Worse, such as if they were not alone?"

"Exactly." Francis's early words snuck into his thoughts. 'Anyone _else_'… "Oh, bloody fucking…who?"

"Lithuania and Germany." Well, that _definitely_ could have been worse. "I believe Japan may also know something, though I doubt he is aware of the full truth, judging by how he dashed from the conference room."

They arrived in the aforementioned hallway to discover Japan hyperventilating as Germany and America attempted to calm him down as they explained the entire story.

Yes, things could certainly have been worse.

* * *

Russia stood in the conference room, watching out the window as a group of fellow nations, accompanied by two small children, left the building and headed down the streets of London.

"Mr. Russia, everyone else has gone, shouldn't we be leaving soon also?"

"да, Эстония, after all, we must prepare for tomorrow." He slipped the interesting photograph he had found into the pocket of his coat. "After all, I have a feeling the tomorrow will be a very interesting day."

* * *

да, Эстония – Yes (Da), Estonia…I think.

Review for me please!

~Duckie


	22. Chapter 22

Ha! An update! And it's only a tiny bit late! *Cowers in fear in the hopes no one will shoot her for her month and a half absence*

But you don't want to hear me talk, so on with Youthful Nature!

* * *

The large group of nations loudly made their made their way to Arthur's house. Germany spent most of the trip arguing with Prussia over how he was going to pay for the equipment he stole (and probably broke) while his brother kept changing the subject by pointing out mundane things and declaring how they could be made awesome. Japan was still rather confused, though he was doing his best to hide it. Lithuania, meanwhile, was still nursing a throbbing headache. France had taken it upon himself to make both of the nations fell better. Unfortunately, the Frenchman's methods were not exactly… consoling, though still worked as an effective distraction.

The loudest voices in the group, however, came from the argument between the nation leading the group and the young boy walking backwards in front of him.

"Whadda'ya mean we can't go back tomorrow?"

"Alfred. First, speak properly. Second, when I say you cannot go back to the World Meeting tomorrow, I mean you CANNOT GO BACK TO THE WORLD MEETING TOMORROW YOU INSUFFERABLE GIT!" Arthur's shout drew more than a few stares from the Londoners nearby. Alfred, however, didn't care.

"BUT TODAY WENT _FINE_!" All of the other nations froze for a moment to raise an eyebrow at the American. "Okay, so maybe not _fine_ but not too bad! I mean, it's not like anybody evil found out!"

England shook his head. "Three nations discovered what was _supposed_ to be a secret, you missed half of the meeting anyway, and I almost got decapitated. We are simply taking too big of a risk. You aren't going back."

"I can't miss the rest of the conference just cause you lost a bit of blood! And since we missed some of the meeting today, that just means we can't miss any more. Come on, Mattie, back me up here!"

The Canadian, who had been quietly listening to the entire conversation, gave his brother a sympathetic look. "Sorry Al. I don't really want to miss the meeting either, but Arthur's right. We just aren't in the best situation to be taking risks, eh?"

America gaped at his brother.

"Besides, Alfred, I would have figured you'd enjoy a time off. It's not like you do any work anyway."

"That's not fair Iggy! I do work sometimes!" A rather large eyebrow was raised in response. "And I'd love time off any other time, but not at a world conference. How am I supposed to protect everyone if I don't know who's plotting dastardly schemes?"

England placed a hand over his face. Dastardly schemes? "I told you to stop calling me that. And the rest of us will take perfectly acceptable notes and you can deal with any dastardly schemers after you are back to normal. Now face forward before you hurt somebody."

America crossed his arms with a huff and turned around. He was silent the rest of the walk, which allowed the other nations to notice the sudden quietness of the back of the group. They all turned around to find Germany had lost all patience with his brother and the two had managed to somehow get into a silent fist fight. England somehow managed to pull the brothers apart, but in the process a small square of plastic fell out of the Prussian's pocket.

Germany picked up the item while England still had a hold on his brother.

"Bruder…is this…my credit card?"

"…um, Ja…I, um, found it! I figured I would be an awesome older brother and return it to you."

"Then why was it still in your pocket."

"I…um…forgot!" It was easy to see why Ludwig had believed the Prussian to be a terrible liar. When put on the spot, Gilbert couldn't lie to save his life. So, he did what any awesome Prussian would do when their brother correctly suspected them of using their credit card…again…

…He took off in a mad dash for England's house.

Ludwig was hot on Gilbert's heels, angry a far too mild word to describe his current state. England, America, Canada, France, Japan, and Lithuania rushed behind, trying to keep up with the brothers.

Prussia reached England's front door and kicked it open without stopping, ("Everyone needs to stop breaking down my bloody door!"), but he wasn't fast enough. Germany tackled his brother from behind. The fight didn't get far, however, as both froze when a large crash sounded from the kitchen. The soldiers in all of the present nations were immediately on high alert. Someone was in the kitchen, and they definitely weren't supposed to be there.

* * *

Francis quickly grabbed the North American twins, pulling them into the far corner of the living room before being joined by Toris and Kiku. Even Alfred, ever wanting to be the hero, understood the precarious situation they were now in. England slowly approached the doorway to the kitchen, followed by Germany and Prussia, between whom a temporary truce had been silently called, though the spat far from forgotten.

England leaned his back against the wall on the right side of the swinging door and placed an arm out at the ready. Germany took stance on the other side, Prussia to his right. England counted down, signaling with his hands. Three. Two. One. Now! The nations burst into the kitchen, ready to take down the mysterious intruder.

"DON'T HURT ME! I SURRENDER!"

"Feliciano…" Germany sighed, his muscles relaxing at the obvious lack of threat. "What are you doing here?"

"Ludwig!" Feliciano dashed out from his hiding place behind the table and picked up the pot he had drop when the others had first entered the house. "I was making pasta!"

"HOW THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE?"

"Oh, the back door was unlocked." The Italian responded cheerfully.

England growled and burst out of the kitchen. "Who in the name of Oliver Cromwell left my door unlocked?"

Francis suddenly looked surprisingly sheepish. This wasn't missed by England, who approached the Frenchman, prepared to let him have it. A sudden yelp of pain stopped him in his tracks.

Alfred and Matthew suddenly fell to the floor, two pairs of hands gripping the carpet in pain. The others couldn't help but stare as the twins started to change. The disgusting sound of bones cracking met their ears as they stretched and grew. As soon as it began however, the episode was over. The brothers now laid on the floor, unconscious, their appearances matching those of their 12-year-old selves.

England forgot his anger at France, rushing forward and picking up the unconscious American. France quickly took the Canadian, and the pair were taken upstairs as the nations in both the sitting room and kitchen looked on.

A soft "Ve~" reminded Germany of the presence of the Italian.

"Feliciano, about America and…his brother." Germany ignored his brother's glare. "I know that this must be very confusing to you."

Italy shook his head. "Not really, I already knew!"

The others stared at the grinning Italian in shock.

What?

* * *

Bwhahaha! My plan is set into motion! You're all now even MORE CONFUSED! Hehehehehe

Luckily for you, the readers, the next two chapters are ALREADY IN THE WORKS! So you won't have to wait a month for the next part! Hooray!

And for anyone who forgot, the reason America and Canada are slowly aging is because the spell is weakening (if you look back, Iggy said it'd do that!) It's going to weaken throughout the week of the conference at varying rates, but they'll be back to normal by the end of the last day of the conference! Which may make the end seem not that terribly far away, but a lot is going to happen over that time, so we're still in the thick of things!

One more quick question: Anyone else having trouble with the "Traffic" pages? I haven't been able to get them to work for a while now, I've sent in the problem, but nothings changed...was wondering if it was just me.

Reviews are loverly as always, even one word ones make me happy, so please, send a review!

~Duckie


	23. An Unfortunate Update

I'm sorry guys, I never wanted to have to make one of these. Don't worry, none of my stories are dead.

Updates have been slow since, surprise, 19 semester hours at University is kind of time consuming. However, I was excited because I almost had two more chapters of Youthful Nature done, and was then going to try to update everything else.

Anyone who has checked my profile may have seen that in February, I epically murdered my nice shiny laptop with a glass of water poured directly into the keyboard. Luckily, I was able to save almost everything on that computer, however my fanfiction stuff was, in fact, lost.

But no worry, I thought, in my little spare time I shall rewrite what was written and update! It might take a little longer, but I'll do it!

Last night, the Harddrive on my not even 3 month old laptop started making a clicking sound, then shut down my computer. It will not turn on. Everything that was not on my external is gone. Guess what has, once again, been lost?

I'm typing this on a school computer, but since it is finals next week, I can't be on it much longer, as computers are supposed to be reserved for academicy things during this week. I'll be home near the end of next week and can hopefully start rewriting chapters then.

Don't lose hope though, for I WILL update. I am quite a stubborn person and I will not let my stories sit unfinished!

I am so sorry everybody, and I hope to see you soon!

(This Update is being posted on all my stories, even Nordic Switch, so if you read more than one, you'll get this update more than once.)

~Duckie


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